But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Pedro Antonio Casas

Republican · U.S. House, California District 38
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How this mark works

We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

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Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: Answering a June 2026 voter-guide question about the U.S.-Israel relationship, he says "Critically important. Israel is a close ally of the USA", without saying where he stands on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

Has not stated a position on U.S. weapons or money to the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. In a June 2026 iVoterGuide response he wrote "Critically important. Israel is a close ally of the USA" and "My Democrat opponents hate Israel."

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Deep Dive

Pedro Antonio Casas, a retired Army colonel and psychologist, is the Republican nominee in CA-38, per Ballotpedia and his campaign site. We found no statement from him on U.S. military aid, weapons transfers, or money to the government of Israel, and none on U.S. aid to Palestinians.

Asked about the U.S.-Israel relationship in his iVoterGuide questionnaire for the June 2, 2026 primary, he wrote: "Critically important. Israel is a close ally of the USA." He continued: "The Jews were almost exterminated in WWII. The idea that currently, 9 million Jews are a threat to 2 billion Muslims in the Middle East is preposterous. Any current claim of any part of Israel is completely in error historically. Jews and Christ inhabited all of what is now Israel, between 600 years and 3000 years before Mohammed ever existed." In the same profile he wrote, "My Democrat opponents hate Israel." These are statements about the alliance and about history; they do not state a direction on aid or weapons.

An initial search also reports that on September 3, 2025 he spoke during public comment at a Bonita Unified School District board meeting, rejecting Palestinian land claims, calling classroom arguments that Israel stole land "transparently an attack on our Jewish religion," and warning that biased instruction risks "inciting anti-Semitism" and a possible Title VI violation. The only source for that meeting is an unindexed board-video page that does not name him, so those quotes stay on the research page pending a human check of the video.

The money

Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found

2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.

In their words

“Critically important. Israel is a close ally of the USA.”
Source ↗, 2026-06-02

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

Searched 2026-08-10. Republican nominee, CA-38; retired U.S. Army colonel, clinical/forensic/aeromedical psychologist; advanced from the June 2, 2026 primary (campaign site, Ballotpedia).

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

  • Nothing found. [Nothing found]

Characterization of the conflict

  • June 2, 2026 primary questionnaire [current position; questionnaire page undated, anchored to the primary it served]: iVoterGuide response: "Critically important. Israel is a close ally of the USA." "The Jews were almost exterminated in WWII. The idea that currently, 9 million Jews are a threat to 2 billion Muslims in the Middle East is preposterous. Any current claim of any part of Israel is completely in error historically. Jews and Christ inhabited all of what is now Israel, between 600 years and 3000 years before Mohammed ever existed." Verified verbatim 2026-08-10.
  • 2025-09-03 current position; UNVERIFIABLE SOURCE: board-meeting video page that does not name him per the search notes]: public comment at Bonita USD board meeting: "Christ, and what is now the Jewish religion were in Israel, Christ was there 600 years before Muhammad showed up in the history books. Jewish culture was there 2,000 years before Christ... Somehow this magical Palestine only occurs in what is now perfectly formed Israel." Not card-usable; needs human video check.

Rhetoric and lobbying

  • June 2026 questionnaire [current position]: "My Democrat opponents hate Israel." Verified verbatim 2026-08-10.
  • 2025-09-03 [current position; same unverifiable video source]: called classroom arguments that Israel stole land "transparently an attack on our Jewish religion." Not card-usable.
  • No statements found on lobbying groups or lobbying legislation.

Safety and antisemitism

  • 2025-09-03 [current position; same unverifiable video source]: said a student's exclusion after questioning a teacher's Israel narrative "is not only discriminatory, it is a potential Title VI violation under federal law... It risks perpetuating stereotypes, inciting anti-Semitism, and creating a hostile environment." Not card-usable; on this page only.

Also in this race

  1. – Hilda Solis (Democrat)

But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.