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

David Pan

Republican · U.S. House, California District 46
✗From their own words
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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No recorded votes on the bills we track. In their own words on April 23, 2024.

Pan's campaign site praised the April 2024 House foreign aid packages, saying that without U.S. military aid Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan could disappear as independent democratic nations. In November 2023 Pan wrote that moral asymmetry with Hamas "requires the United States" to help defend Israel "at all costs."

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Deep Dive

An April 23, 2024 post on Pan's campaign site, "A Victory in the House of Representatives for Democracy," praised House passage of the foreign aid packages: "Without robust U.S. military aid, the world could face the disappearance of Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan as independent, democratic nations." The post carries a staff byline (Jesse Whitfield), so the words are the campaign's rather than confirmed as Pan's own.

In his own writing as editor of the journal Telos, Pan argued on November 7, 2023 that the war is "morally asymmetric": Hamas targets civilians and uses human shields while Israel follows rules of engagement like U.S. standards in Iraq and Afghanistan, and this difference "requires the United States to help to defend at all costs both Israel and the kind of moral and legal order that it represents." A week earlier he wrote in "The Sources of War" that hostility stems primarily from Palestinian leadership and that Hamas treats Israel as an "absolute enemy."

Pan helped launch the Telos-Paul Piccone Institute's Israel Initiative in April 2024, and in summer 2025 wrote against campus rhetoric calling Israel a "white supremacist, settler-colonial state," calling it instead "the most egalitarian liberal democracy in the Middle East." He has said failures to protect Jewish students on campuses helped motivate his run.

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.

Research log

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

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

  • 2023-11-07 [Months after October 7, 2023; verified]: In "Israel, Hamas, and Moral Asymmetry" (Telos Press), Pan argued the moral asymmetry between Israel and Hamas "requires the United States to help to defend at all costs both Israel and the kind of moral and legal order that it represents." Telos.
  • 2024-04-23 [Current position; verified]: Campaign site post "A Victory in the House of Representatives for Democracy" praised House approval of the foreign aid packages: "Without robust U.S. military aid, the world could face the disappearance of Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan as independent, democratic nations." Also: if Iran defeated Israel with Hamas and Hezbollah's help, "they would no doubt massacre Israelis." Campaign blog. Note: the post's byline is a staffer (Jesse Whitfield), not Pan.

Characterization of the conflict

  • 2023-10-31 [Months after October 7, 2023]: In "The Sources of War," wrote that Western commentators who blame Israel for continuing hostilities are wrong; hostility stems primarily from Palestinian leadership; Hamas views Israel as an "absolute enemy," while Israel "has worked over the decades to integrate Palestinians into its society and economy." Telos.
  • 2023-11-07 [Months after October 7, 2023; verified]: Described the war as "morally asymmetric": Israeli forces use rules of engagement similar to U.S. standards in Iraq and Afghanistan to minimize noncombatant casualties, while Hamas uses noncombatants as human shields. Telos.
  • Summer 2025 [Current position; season-only inline date]: In Telos Issue 211, criticized campus rhetoric characterizing Israel as a "white supremacist, settler-colonial state"; called Israel "the most egalitarian liberal democracy in the Middle East." Source is his undated author archive: Telos author page and page 2.

Rhetoric and lobbying

  • April 2024 [Current position; month-only inline date; source page undated]: As Telos editor, helped launch the Telos-Paul Piccone Institute's "Israel Initiative," a platform for commentary on the Middle East conflict, anti-Zionism, and higher education. Telos Institute.
  • 2024-04-24 [Current position]: In "The Proper Limits of Academic Freedom: Lessons from the Unrest at Columbia University," characterized pro-Palestinian encampments and boycotts as ideological overreach harming university integrity. Telos Columbia tag page (tag listing, not the essay itself).
  • No public record found of statements or actions regarding formal Israel-related lobbying or advocacy organizations.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not a weapons or funding position)

  • 2023-11-15 [Months after October 7, 2023]: Spoke at a UC Board of Regents meeting urging elimination of DEI programs, arguing they promote ideological bias and contribute to environments where Jewish and conservative students face discrimination. Regents minutes PDF.
  • 2024-04-24 [Current position]: Argued university leadership must set strict limits when demonstrations cross into harassment, intimidation, or civil disturbance targeting Jewish students. Telos Columbia tag page.
  • 2024-05-28 [Current position]: Video commentary on UC Irvine encampments calling for strict enforcement of campus rules and law enforcement intervention so Jewish and non-protesting students can access facilities. YouTube; related video YouTube.
  • 2024-08-25 [Current position]: On The Fifth Question podcast, said university administrations failed to protect Jewish students and that restoring campus safety was a key motivation for his congressional run. Podcast Republic.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ J. Luis Correa (Democrat)

All California candidates.

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.