But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Adam Hamilton
Democrat · U.S. Senate, Kansas
?Mixed
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: He does not want his tax money buying weapons dropped on Gaza yet in the same breath commits to defending Israel now if attacked, which he himself calls holding two things together. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Hamilton told CNN in August 2026 he would not want his tax money going to weapons dropped on women and children in Gaza, while pledging to defend Israel if attacked. Of U.S. aid to the government of Israel, $3.8 billion, he said: "They may not need that aid anymore."
The email has replies@butwhatcanyoudo.org in cc, so we can post their answer on their page in their own words; remove it if you prefer. Keep the subject line as it is, add your name, and send.
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 to the government of Israel at $3.8 billion, he said he had heard "the government there saying, we're not sure we need America's aid anymore." 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. In the same note he wrote: "I am against terrorism and violence perpetrated by Hamas, and I am against the atrocities that have been perpetrated against Palestinians in the name of rooting out Hamas. I am for doing whatever must be done to ensure food aid is being received by those who need it in Gaza, and for seeing that people are not starving to death as we say nothing." 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.
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 2026-07-13) 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
“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.”
“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.”
“I am against terrorism and violence perpetrated by Hamas, and I am against the atrocities that have been perpetrated against Palestinians in the name of rooting out Hamas. I am for doing whatever must be done to ensure food aid is being received by those who need it in Gaza, and for seeing that people are not starving to death as we say nothing.”
“I look at Israel right now, we're providing a great deal of aid to Israel, $3.8 billion. What I've heard is the government there saying, we're not sure we need America's aid anymore.”
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
2026-08-06 [Current position]: 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."
2026-08-06 [Current position]: He named the figure: "I look at Israel right now, we're providing a great deal of aid to Israel, $3.8 billion." He went on: "What I've heard is the government there saying, we're not sure we need America's aid anymore." 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]: 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.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
2025-07-25 [Current position]: In a pastoral update (message dated 2025-07-25, posted 2025-07-29), on aid reaching Gaza rather than on a U.S. budget line: "I am for doing whatever must be done to ensure food aid is being received by those who need it in Gaza, and for seeing that people are not starving to death as we say nothing."
Characterization of the conflict
[Reaction window, 2023-10-13] 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." (Message dated 2025-07-25, posted 2025-07-29.) In the same note: "I am against terrorism and violence perpetrated by Hamas, and I am against the atrocities that have been perpetrated against Palestinians in the name of rooting out Hamas."
2026-08-06 [Current position]: 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.
No statement located on U.S. aid to Palestinians as a budget line, on UNRWA, or on U.S. funding for Gaza humanitarian aid. The nearest is his July 2025 note on food aid reaching Gaza, under U.S. aid to Palestinians above.
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.