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

Mike Haridopolos

Republican · U.S. House, Florida District 8
✗Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes

In June 2025 Haridopolos became a cosponsor of a bill authorizing $1 million a year in United States military education and training money for the government of Israel. In May 2026 he joined more than ninety members asking President Trump to dismantle the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

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Deep Dive

Mike Haridopolos has represented Florida's 8th District, which his office describes as taking in Brevard and Indian River counties on the Space Coast and Treasure Coast, since January 2025. He was President of the Florida Senate from 2010 to 2012 and taught political science before that, and he chairs the House Science Committee's Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. Neither party held a primary in this district in 2026, so he and Jennifer Jenkins advanced to the general election unopposed and meet on November 3.

On what the United States sends, the record is two acts rather than a set of statements. On June 5, 2025 he became a cosponsor of the American-Hellenic-Israeli Eastern Mediterranean Counterterrorism and Maritime Security Partnership Act, a bill from Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York that would authorize $1 million for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029 in International Military Education and Training assistance for Israel, with $250,000 a year each for Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, and would build a standing counterterrorism and maritime security structure among the four governments. Then on May 26, 2026 he was one of more than ninety members who signed a letter asking President Trump to dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the United Nations agency that provides schooling, health care and social services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The members who signed wrote that the agency “has perpetuated and expanded the problem through its unprecedented policy of conferring refugee status across generations – transforming what was once a finite humanitarian issue into a permanent and growing political challenge”. The letter was led by Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, and its words belong to all the members who put their names to it.

He has said less in his own voice, and what there is is about the alliance rather than about aid. Asked in May 2026 by the Washington Reporter, a Washington news outlet covering Republicans in Congress, whether his colleagues and constituents were united behind the President's support for the government of Israel, he answered: “Our number one ally in the Middle East is Israel; they share our values of life and freedom, they are the most compassionate country in the Middle East. They provide opportunities even for people who don’t share their religion; if Israel gets taken out, we are next.” In his first week in office, explaining his vote for the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, he said the International Criminal Court's charges against the government of Israel were an example of a politicized agenda, and that the bill was about standing firm in defense of the United States and its allies. That statement is the only one of the ninety-one releases his office has published since he took office that mentions the government of Israel at all.

One further act sits next to the question without answering it. On June 29, 2026 he and three other Greek American members objected to a reported United States sale of jet engines to Turkey, citing among their reasons Turkey's harboring of Hamas and its rhetorical demonization of Israel; the weapons in question would go to Turkey, not to the government of Israel. He has published nothing about either of the votes recorded on this card, and he has no campaign site for this election. His cosponsorship of a resolution condemning antisemitism, a 2009 Florida Senate resolution, the platform he ran on in 2024, and his statements on Iran are all on his research page.

The record

Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes · Backs 0 of 1 tracked bills to restrict weapons transfers

Floor votes
H.R. 8595 - Massie amendment (Part A No. 8) to bar FY27 funds for Israel and cut $3.3B in Foreign Military Financing2026-07-15 · Failed 104-314
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
H.Amdt. 55 to H.R. 4016 - strike $500M for Israeli Cooperative Programs2025-07-18 · Failed 6-422 (only 6 voted to cut)
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
Bill sponsorship
H.R. 3565 - Block the Bombs ActWould bar transfer of 2,000-lb/BLU-109 bunker busters, JDAMs, 120mm tank rounds, and 155mm artillery shells to Israel. Does not affect Iron
Not sponsoringhas not backed this restriction bill
H.R. 1229 - United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025Formalizes/expands bilateral defense cooperation with Israel.
Co-sponsorbacks this bill to send more support
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.

See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.

Voted to send weapons or funding in more than half of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes.)

The money

$15K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track

Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
AIPAC PAC: $15,000
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
AIPAC$15,000The American Israel Public Affairs Committee; its PAC backs candidates it sees as strengthening U.S. ties with the government of Israel, including continued U.S. military aid.Direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting this candidate from the five lobbying groups we track, every cycle each has filed, through 2026. Excludes earmarked and conduit contributions.
Endorsed by AIPAC
AIPACThe American Israel Public Affairs Committee; its PAC backs candidates it sees as strengthening U.S. ties with the government of Israel, including continued U.S. military aid.These endorsements come from groups that back sending U.S. weapons and funding to the government of Israel.

In their words

“Our number one ally in the Middle East is Israel; they share our values of life and freedom, they are the most compassionate country in the Middle East. They provide opportunities even for people who don’t share their religion; if Israel gets taken out, we are next.”
Source ↗, 2026-05-08
“The ICC’s charges against our ally Israel are a clear example of their politicized agenda. This bill is about preserving our rights and standing firm in defense of our nation and our allies.”
Source ↗, 2025-01-09
Endorsements

AIPAC (2026 endorsement)

Research log

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

Our research for this card began with a search run on 2026-09-07, and every page below was opened and read on 2026-09-07 and 2026-09-08. He took office in January 2025, so his congressional newsroom was read from the first entry forward: all ninety-one press releases and all two hundred and two items in his "In the News" section, each one opened and read rather than skimmed from the listing. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. His recorded House votes and the tracked funding total are shown as badges on this card and are not restated here.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

  • [Position, 2025-06-05] GovTrack's cosponsor record for H.R. 2510, the American-Hellenic-Israeli Eastern Mediterranean Counterterrorism and Maritime Security Partnership Act of 2025, which lists "Haridopolos, Mike [R-FL8, 2025-2026]" joining on June 5, 2025, among 22 cosponsors. The bill's own text was introduced on March 31, 2025 by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, for herself and Reps. Thomas Kean Jr., Josh Gottheimer and Dan Goldman. Section 12(d) authorizes, for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029, "$1,000,000 for International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance for Israel", and "$250,000" each for Greece and the Republic of Cyprus. The bill also removes the scheduled termination of the four-government interparliamentary group, sets up executive and legislative security groups covering Israel, Greece, Cyprus and the United States, creates two joint training programmes, and eliminates remaining legislative restrictions on arms sales to the Republic of Cyprus. Its statement of policy includes "to further support a robust International Military Education and Training (IMET) programming with Israel, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, which will increase interoperability with the United States".
  • [Position, 2025-06-13] The American Hellenic Institute's announcement that the bill had reached double-digit cosponsorship names "Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL-8)" in its list of twelve and summarises the bill's provisions. The American Hellenic Institute is a Washington policy centre founded in 1974 that promotes United States interests in Greece, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, and the release says the bill was initiated by the institute. The page is dated June 13, 2025; our research reported it as June 13, 2026.
  • [Position, 2026-06-29] The joint statement by Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Haridopolos and Jimmy Patronis on a proposed military sale to Turkey, issued from Bilirakis's office: "As Greek American Members of Congress, we are deeply concerned regarding reports of a proposed military sale of jet engines to Turkey. Turkey continues to be a destabilizing force in the region through its expansive and disputed maritime claims, continued illegal occupation of Cyprus, and rhetorical demonization of Israel." And: "For example, Turkey's harboring of Hamas and position as the only NATO member to refuse sanctions against Russia is deeply troubling. We are actively engaging with the Administration and House leadership to obtain additional information regarding this reported sale and to express our strong opposition to any prospect of Turkey's reintegration into the F-35 program without complete compliance with CAATSA requirements." The statement is written in the first person plural throughout and no sentence in it is attributed to him alone. Its subject is a weapons sale to Turkey. Our research described it as citing Turkey's "harboring of Hamas" and "rhetorical demonization of Israel", which is right, and separately said he "explicitly condemned Hamas as a terrorist organization" in it, which the text does not do. Bilirakis's office dates the statement June 29, 2026; the Armenian Weekly and Greek Reporter, both of which his own office lists, carried it on June 28, 2026.
  • Nothing was found in which he addresses United States arms transfers or Foreign Military Financing for the government of Israel directly, at any date, and nothing in which he explains either of the two recorded votes on this card. Every one of the ninety-one releases his office has published since January 3, 2025 was read, and one of them mentions the government of Israel: the January 2025 statement below. The Foundation for Middle East Peace's compilation of members on the record about the July 15, 2026 House vote on the Massie amendment does not name him.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • [Position, 2026-05-26] Rep. Mike Lawler's release on the letter to President Trump about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, headed "Lawler Leads 90+ Members of Congress to Urge Administration to Dismantle UNRWA Operations in the Middle East", which names "Haridopolos" in its list of cosigners. The release says the letter expresses "serious concerns regarding the continued role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) across the Middle East" and urges "decisive action to dismantle the agency and transition its responsibilities to more credible and transparent partners". The passage it reproduces from the letter itself: "Established in 1949 as a temporary relief agency, UNRWA operates across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, providing education, healthcare, and social services to millions of Palestinian refugees. However, rather than resolving the refugee crisis, UNRWA has perpetuated and expanded the problem through its unprecedented policy of conferring refugee status across generations – transforming what was once a finite humanitarian issue into a permanent and growing political challenge," wrote the lawmakers. Our research dated this letter to May 26, 2025; the release and the letter are dated May 26, 2026.
  • The letter itself is published as a scanned document at https://lawler.house.gov/uploadedfiles/letter_to_trump_on_unrwa_regional_operations.pdf . It opens, but its pages are photographs of paper with no readable text behind them, so the signature block could not be checked there and the sentence our research quoted from it ("failed systems that have further entrenched the Israeli-Palestinian [conflict]") could not be confirmed. The cosigner list on Lawler's own release is what places him on the letter, and the passage above is what could be read.
  • Nothing else located, at any date. No statement on humanitarian funding for Gaza, on the aid pipeline, or on the wider Palestinian assistance accounts appears anywhere in his newsroom or in the coverage read for this card.

Characterization of the conflict

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Earlier record, 2009-01-09] The Florida Senate's record of his service for 2008 to 2010 lists, under bills he co-introduced in the 2009A session, "S 66A / Solidarity with Israel", with the last action "1/9/2009 Filed; Introduced -SJ 00040; Read 2nd time -SJ 00040; Adopted ; See also HR 1-A (Adopted) -SJ 00040". He was then the senator for Florida's 26th district.
  • [Position, 2025-08-27] A Fox Business appearance listed in his own "In the News" section under the headline "Mike Haridopolos warns targeting Israeli firms while funding China is 'virtue signaling'", dated August 27, 2025. His office's description of the segment reads: "Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., joins 'Mornings with Maria' to discuss the looming government shutdown fight, Norway's move against Israel and illegal migrants with commercial drivers licenses." The segment itself is a video at https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6377518331112 and it was not watched, so only the headline and description his own office published are recorded, and nothing he said in it is quoted.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-08] Our research reported an April 30, 2026 interview with Jayne Zirkle of The Lawfare Project about antisemitism. The address it gave is a Facebook video that does open. Its own description reads: "The Lawfare Project's Jayne Zirkle, Director of Communications and Outreach speaks with Rep. Mike Haridopolos who talks about the shared values between Israel and the United States and why its important to tackle growing antisemitism." The page carries no date, so the April 30, 2026 date our research gave it could not be confirmed, and the video was not watched, so nothing he says in it is written here. Its address is https://www.facebook.com/LawfareProject/videos/the-lawfare-projects-jayne-zirkle-director-of-communications-and-outreach-speaks/971068832171138/
  • Our research also reported an April 11, 2019 televised discussion on Fox 35 WOFL about Florida legislation on antisemitism in schools. The only address offered is https://www.facebook.com/mikeharidopolos/posts/former-state-senate-president-mike-haridopolos-and-state-representative-randy-fi/3172869199393760/ , which does not open. Nothing is claimed from it.
  • The tracked funding total on this record is shown as a badge and is not restated here.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)

The race

  • [Undated; read 2026-09-08] Ballotpedia: "Incumbent Mike Haridopolos and Jennifer Jenkins are running in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 8 on November 3, 2026." Both primaries scheduled for August 18, 2026 were canceled and each advanced unopposed. He won the seat in 2024 with 62.2 percent against Sandy Kennedy, succeeding Bill Posey. The same page records that Florida is voting on a new congressional map this year, passed by the legislature on April 29, 2026 and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on May 4, 2026, so the district's boundaries are not the ones he was first elected in.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-08] His Ballotpedia page records that he has not completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey for 2026 and did not complete it in 2024. It reproduces in full the platform he ran on in 2024, under nine headings: illegal immigration, fixing the economy, the Indian River Lagoon, space, crime and public safety, the military and veterans, term limits, healthcare, and the national debt. None of the nine is about Israel, Gaza, foreign aid or foreign policy of any kind. The military heading reads in part: "Our military preserves our freedom every day. We must back them with the best technology available to keep evil at bay and ensure a strong national defense."
  • Two campaign addresses were checked for this election, mikeharidopolos.com and haridopolosforcongress.com. Both are registered but neither carries a campaign site; each returns a domain-holder placeholder page. They are printed here rather than linked for that reason. No 2026 campaign site was found, and no iVoterGuide profile for this race was found.
  • [Position, 2026-07-22] The Space Coast Rocket, a Brevard County news site, published a 2026 candidate questionnaire for this district. It carries Jennifer Jenkins's answers and has no entry for him. Its seven questions are about the district and about why each candidate is running, and none of them asks about foreign policy.
  • [Position, 2025-01-03] His own first release, on being sworn in: "Congressman Mike Haridopolos was officially sworn in today as the Representative for Florida's 8th Congressional District, which includes Brevard and Indian River Counties."

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

  • The scanned letter to President Trump about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, https://lawler.house.gov/uploadedfiles/letter_to_trump_on_unrwa_regional_operations.pdf , which opens but is a photograph of paper with no readable text.
  • The Facebook post our research offered for the 2019 Fox 35 WOFL discussion, https://www.facebook.com/mikeharidopolos/posts/former-state-senate-president-mike-haridopolos-and-state-representative-randy-fi/3172869199393760/ , which does not open.
  • The Lawfare Project video, the Fox Business video of August 27, 2025 and the FOX 35 Orlando video of May 24, 2021: all three pages open, and all three items sit behind video players and were not watched.
  • His own accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube. None was read here.

Not on the card, and why

  • The Iran answer in the May 2026 interview, and his other statements and interviews on Iran, including the ones his office lists as "Congressman Haridopolos Talks Operation Epic Fury in Iran", "Congressman Haridopolos talks US strikes on Iran" and "Haridopolos says US should avoid 'boots on the ground' in Iran conflict": Iran is a different question from what the United States sends to the government of Israel.
  • The April 2026 Lawfare Project interview and the April 2019 Fox 35 WOFL discussion: the first is a video nobody has watched and carries no date on its page, and the second's only address does not open.
  • The August 2025 Fox Business appearance beyond the headline and description his own office published: the segment is a video that was not watched, so nothing from inside it is stated.
  • The 2021 FOX 35 Orlando appearance: the item is a video that was not watched, and it predates the period this site treats as a candidate's current record. It is above with its date.
  • The 2009 Florida Senate resolution: it is a state legislative expression of solidarity from seventeen years ago and says nothing about what the United States sends. It is above with its date.
  • The passages of the Turkey statement about maritime claims, Cyprus and Russia sanctions, and the parts of H.R. 2510 concerning Greece and the Republic of Cyprus: out of scope for this question, and set out above so the whole of each document is visible.
  • H. Res. 447 beyond his cosponsorship: it is a resolution about antisemitism in the United States, which this site carries as context and never as the answer to what America sends.
  • The immigration, economy, lagoon, space, crime, military, term limits, healthcare and debt material in his 2024 platform, and the ninety releases from his office that are about space, appropriations, banking, housing, the lagoon and district business: out of scope. They are listed above so the absence is checkable.
  • Jennifer Jenkins's record: it belongs on her own card.
  • The recorded votes and the tracked funding total: both are shown as badges on this card. He has published no statement about either vote, so neither is characterized in the prose.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

  • https://haridopolos.house.gov/media/press-releases and its ten pages, and every one of the ninety-one releases listed on them (opened; 2026-09-08; the whole listing from July 15, 2026 back to January 3, 2025)
  • https://haridopolos.house.gov/media/in-the-news and its twenty-one pages, and every one of the two hundred and two items listed on them (opened; 2026-09-08)
  • https://haridopolos.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-mike-haridopolos-issues-statement-following-houses-passage (opened; 2026-09-08; published 2025-01-09)
  • https://haridopolos.house.gov/media/press-releases/mike-haridopolos-sworn-congressman-floridas-8th-district (opened; 2026-09-08; published 2025-01-03)
  • https://haridopolos.house.gov/media/in-the-news/mike-haridopolos-warns-targeting-israeli-firms-while-funding-china-virtue (opened; 2026-09-08; published 2025-08-27)
  • https://washingtonreporter.news/interview-gop-lawmakers-back-trump-on-israel/ (opened; 2026-09-08; published 2026-05-08)
  • https://palmer.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/interview-gop-lawmakers-back-trump-israel (opened; 2026-09-08; carries the same feature)
  • https://bilirakis.house.gov/media/press-releases/greek-american-lawmakers-raise-serious-concerns-over-proposed-us-military-sale (opened; 2026-09-08; published 2026-06-29)
  • https://armenianweekly.com/2026/06/28/anca-joins-hellenic-allies-to-block-700-million/ and https://greekreporter.com/2026/06/28/greek-american-lawmakers-oppose-proposed-us-military-sale-turkey/ (listed in his own "In the News" section; 2026-09-08; both dated 2026-06-28)
  • https://americanhellenicinstitute.org/press-releases/american-hellenic-israeli-security-act-reaches-double-digit-co-sponsorship (opened; 2026-09-08; dated 2025-06-13)
  • https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/119/hr2510/cosponsors (opened; 2026-09-08)
  • https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr2510ih/html/BILLS-119hr2510ih.htm (opened; 2026-09-08; introduced 2025-03-31)
  • https://lawler.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5974 (opened; 2026-09-08; published 2026-05-26)
  • https://lawler.house.gov/uploadedfiles/letter_to_trump_on_unrwa_regional_operations.pdf (opened but unreadable; 2026-09-08)
  • https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/119/hres447/cosponsors (opened; 2026-09-08)
  • https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hres447ih/html/BILLS-119hres447ih.htm (opened; 2026-09-08; introduced 2025-05-23)
  • https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/2008-2010/S26/4677 (opened; 2026-09-08)
  • https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/demonstrators-gather-in-orlando-to-support-jewish-community (opened; 2026-09-08; dated 2021-05-24; video not watched)
  • https://fmep.org/resource/members-on-the-record-re-ending-aid-to-israel-re-7-15-26-house-vote-on-massie-amendment/ (opened; 2026-09-08; does not name him)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Florida%27s_8th_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-08)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Mike_Haridopolos (opened; 2026-09-08)
  • https://thespacecoastrocket.com/2026-candidate-questionnaire-jennifer-jenkins-u-s-congress-fl-district-8/ and the site's own index of what it has published about him (opened; 2026-09-08; no questionnaire from him)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Haridopolos and https://whofundsmyrep.com/rep/mike-haridopolos (opened; 2026-09-08; identity only, and nothing is cited from either)
  • mikeharidopolos.com and haridopolosforcongress.com (opened; 2026-09-08; placeholder pages, no campaign site)
  • https://www.facebook.com/LawfareProject/videos/the-lawfare-projects-jayne-zirkle-director-of-communications-and-outreach-speaks/971068832171138/ (opened; 2026-09-08; undated, video not watched)
  • https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6377518331112 (video, not watched; 2026-09-08)
  • https://www.facebook.com/mikeharidopolos/posts/former-state-senate-president-mike-haridopolos-and-state-representative-randy-fi/3172869199393760/ (could not open; 2026-09-08)
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-07 and 2026-09-08, not a claim that no other statement exists.

Also in this race

  1. ? Jennifer Jenkins (Democrat)

All Florida 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.