Adam Hamilton
On CNN in August 2026 Hamilton said he would not want his tax money going to weapons dropped on women and children in Gaza, while pledging to defend Israel if attacked. He put U.S. aid at $3.8 billion and said Israel may not need it anymore.
Hamilton is the founding senior pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood and won the Kansas Democratic Senate primary on August 4, 2026. Two days later he set out his position on CNN's Laura Coates Live, and he named the tension himself: "At the same time, I would not want my tax money going to weapons that are being dropped on women and children in Gaza. And so, for me, I hold these two things together. Israel is our ally. We're going to stand by them, we're going to defend them."
He was specific about the money. Putting current U.S. aid at $3.8 billion, he said Israel is a wealthy country and "They may not need that aid anymore." He closed: "I am going to stand with Israel if they were attacked. They are our ally. I'm going to stand with them. But I also stand with the Palestinian people. So, I stand with both."
His writing to his congregation runs the same way. In July 2025 he wrote that there will never be peace for Israel without justice for Palestinians, and none for Palestinians without a willingness to partner with Israel. On CNN he called the October 7 attacks egregious and the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians a horrible atrocity, saying he can look at both and call both wrong.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- 2026-08-06 [Current position; VERIFIED VERBATIM 2026-08-11 against the CNN transcript; card-leading]: On Laura Coates Live: "we're going to support our allies, we're going to care for them. If they're attacked, we're going to stand with them. We are going to do that. At the same time, I would not want my tax money going to weapons that are being dropped on women and children in Gaza. And so, for me, I hold these two things together. Israel is our ally. We're going to stand by them, we're going to defend them."
⚠ **The first search RE-ORDERED these sentences**, presenting "Israel is our ally..." before the tax-money sentence. The transcript has the tax-money sentence first, followed by "And so, for me, I hold these two things together." The order is restored here from the source. Nothing was invented, but the splice would have been published as a verbatim quote that he never said in that sequence.
- 2026-08-06 [Current position; VERIFIED VERBATIM]: He named the figure, which the first search did not capture: "I look at Israel right now, we're providing a great deal of aid to Israel, $3.8 billion." And: "They may not need that aid anymore." And: "I think they're a very wealthy country. They're a very small country, but a very wealthy country."
- 2026-08-06 [Current position; VERIFIED VERBATIM]: Closing: "I am going to stand with Israel if they were attacked. They are our ally. I'm going to stand with them. But I also stand with the Palestinian people. So, I stand with both." The interviewer's reply, "It will be quite the needle to thread, policy-wise", is on the record too.
- Date correction: the text in the search notes dated these remarks 2026-08-07. The transcript is filed under 2026-08-06, and the 2026-08-07 segment of the same programme is an unrelated show with no Hamilton content. **The correct date is 2026-08-06.**
Characterization of the conflict
- 2023-10-13 [Months after October 7, 2023; on this page only]: In a weekly message to his congregation after the October 7 attacks, he described it as a "911-like trauma" for Jewish communities in Israel and worldwide.
- 2025-07-25 [Current position]: In a pastoral update: "There will never be peace for Israel until there is fairness (justice) and a just resolution for the Palestinian. And there will never be peace and prosperity for the Palestinians until there is a willingness to accept and find ways to partner with Israel." Page carries a published date of 2025-07-29 against a stated message date of 2025-07-25; not opened.
- 2026-06-26 [Current position; source page wrongly attached by the first search]: Reported wording about caring for Israelis traumatised by October 7 and for Palestinians in Gaza. The only source page the first search attached is a Facebook post by Brad Lander, a different person, which does not name Hamilton. Not quoted, not used.
- 2026-08-06 [Current position; VERIFIED]: On CNN he called the October 7 attacks "egregious" and the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians, particularly women and children, a "horrible atrocity", adding "I can look at both those things and say both of those things are wrong."
Rhetoric and lobbying
- 2022-03-13 [Earlier record]: Profiled in the Jerusalem Post. Not a statement on U.S. weapons or funding.
- Undated: Author pages at Abingdon Press; no relevant claim.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not a weapons or funding position)
- 2014-04 [Earlier record]: Coverage of the Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting and the community response, in the Forward and the Times of Israel.
- Undated: Listed among signers of Kansans United Against Antisemitism.
What came back empty or unusable
- No statement located on U.S. aid to Palestinians as a budget line, on UNRWA, or on Gaza humanitarian funding, as distinct from his general remarks about the crisis.
- One YouTube source was consulted and carries no retrievable text naming him.
Also in this race: David C Graham (Libertarian), Roger W Marshall (Republican) · All Kansas candidates.
See the full record →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 the interactive card for votes, funding and contact details.