But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Jocelyn Benson
Benson's record touching this issue is at the state level: a 2019 election-security delegation to Israel and Ramallah that drew criticism from Arab American groups, and a 2026 Jewish Democratic Council endorsement. No position was located on U.S. weapons, money, or aid in the conflict.
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You asked Jocelyn Benson where they stand.
Deep Dive
Benson is Michigan's Secretary of State and the Democratic nominee for governor. Her career is state election administration, and we found no statement from her on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel or on aid to Palestinians.
Her one act in the region is from December 2019: a weeklong bipartisan secretaries-of-state delegation to Israel and the West Bank, organized with the American Jewish Committee's Project Interchange, focused on cybersecurity and election infrastructure; she met Israeli cyber authorities and Palestinian civic leaders in Ramallah. Arab American critics in Michigan objected to the trip at the time.
In the 2026 primary she was endorsed by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, which cited her record on civil rights and combating antisemitism, while some progressive and Arab American activists pressed her to condemn Israel's actions in Gaza, which she has not done. In 2023 she condemned antisemitic threats against Jewish state officials in Michigan.
Michigan's Democratic politics have made this issue unavoidable, and she has stayed in her lane. If you want her actual position, you are better placed to get it than we are: ask Benson directly and send us the reply.
The record
• Her campaign issues page, read in full on this date (page body plus the site's own embedded content data, not the nav), sets out eight issue areas: affordability, housing, healthcare, childcare, energy costs, education, data centres and the environment. Every one is a Michigan state matter; neither the issues page nor the campaign news collection carried on it contains any reference to U.S. weapons or U.S. money for the government of Israel, or to U.S. humanitarian aid or UNRWA funding for Palestinians.
• She completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026 and the four answers published there, read on this date and each non-empty, cover costs, wages, rights and safety, and her endorsements; none of them, and no other part of her Ballotpedia profile (which also reproduces her campaign website's issue text verbatim), refers to U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel or to U.S. aid for Palestinians.
• The Arab American News endorsed her for governor four days before the primary in an editorial that discusses U.S. financial and military assistance to Israel by name when explaining its other endorsements; its section on her rests entirely on her election administration record and her ties to the Arab American community, and attributes to her no statement or act about U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel or about U.S. aid to Palestinians.
• The only statement of her own about this conflict found in the current period: an image posted to her X account welcoming the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, naming Jewish and Arab-American Michiganders, hostages and an end to bloodshed. It says nothing about U.S. weapons or U.S. military funding for the government of Israel, nothing about conditioning or pausing arms transfers, and nothing about U.S. humanitarian aid or UNRWA funding for Palestinians.
• Interviewed by USA TODAY at the Democratic National Convention specifically about the Gaza war and how Michigan voters were responding, she answered about listening to voters and solving everyday problems; she did not address U.S. military aid to the government of Israel, or U.S. humanitarian funding for Gaza, in any part of the published interview.
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: In a January 2025 post on X welcoming an Israel-Hamas ceasefire she says "I will continue to pray for hope, healing, and prosperity in Israel and Palestine", without saying where she 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.
In their words
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
- No statement, proposal, or action located; her career is state administration (searched 2026-08-09).
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- Nothing located.
Characterization of the conflict
- Nothing located beyond the delegation context below; she has not issued statements on the conflict's political or territorial dimensions.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Prior, 2019-12-16] NASS/AJC Project Interchange delegation to Israel and the West Bank (her office's release, bulletin): cybersecurity and election-infrastructure focus; met Israeli national cyber authorities and Palestinian civic and business leaders in Ramallah; her statement highlighted international cooperation on election security.
- [Prior, 2019-12-21] Criticism of the trip from Michigan Arab American commentary (Arab American News; a related Facebook post returned 400).
- [Position, 2026-08-07] Endorsed by the Jewish Democratic Council of America (endorsements page); the JDCA's companion piece on El-Sayed frames the group's 2026 Michigan choices; primary-dynamics coverage: Michigan Public, TPR, Detroit One Million.
- [Position, 2026-08, reported] Faced criticism from progressive and Arab American factions seeking public condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza; she has made no such statement.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Prior, 2023-03-03] Condemned religious hate, antisemitism, and political violence after an armed extremist was arrested for death threats against Jewish state officials (WGVU).
- [Position, 2025-06-03, reported] Public-forum remarks on state leadership's responsibility to combat rising antisemitism and threats to public servants (Fox 2 video, not watched).
Also in this race
- ✗Supports John James (Republican)
- –No Position Found Anthony Hudson (Libertarian)
- –No Position Found Douglas Campbell (Green)
- –No Position Found Donna Brandenburg (Other)
All Michigan candidates.
See everyone on the Michigan ballot →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.