Mike Saliba
Asked whether the U.S. relationship with Israel matters, Saliba answered that trade should be free with all nations and "we should not be paying for their military". His platform calls for bringing U.S. troops home from the entire Middle East.
Saliba is the Libertarian nominee in Michigan’s 10th District, a Clinton Township resident who founded the Libertarians of Macomb County. This is his fourth congressional run and he has held no federal office.
His one clearly sourced statement on this question is his answer to the 2026 iVoterGuide questionnaire. Asked whether the United States’ relationship with Israel is important and why, he wrote: "It is important for the United States to free and fair trade with all nations. Our relationship with Israel goes beyond that and we should not be paying for their military." On the same form he picked the option that the United States "has become too involved in others’ policies" and should focus on its own sovereignty unless in imminent danger, rather than the option of staying out of foreign conflicts altogether.
His campaign site sets out a foreign policy of troop withdrawal: returning U.S. soldiers "from around the world, including Korea, Japan, Europe, and the entire Middle East", ending war propaganda and dropping plans for attacks on Iran. That is a blanket non-interventionist position, and it is about troops rather than about aid.
The gather also reports Facebook statements from April 2026 on U.S. arms to Israel, and from August 2026 characterizing an intifada as a terrorist act. Neither has a usable source and neither is on this card. The research page explains why, and it matters, because those two statements point in different directions from each other.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- 2026 [Position band; card-leading; VERIFIED THIS SESSION]: In the iVoterGuide candidate questionnaire for this race, asked "Is the United States’ relationship with Israel important, and if so why?", he answered: "It is important for the United States to free and fair trade with all nations. Our relationship with Israel goes beyond that and we should not be paying for their military." Direction is unambiguous: he opposes U.S. payment for the Israeli military. Read on the page this session.
⚠ **THE GATHER DATED THIS TO HIS 2024 CAMPAIGN. It is the 2026 questionnaire.** The 2024-cycle guide shows "Did not answer" against its Israel item, which is a BDS question rather than this one.
- 2026-04-13 [Position band; SOURCE UNRESOLVED, not used on the card]: The gather reports a Facebook statement criticizing U.S. foreign policy for "sending arms to Israel and offering military support without conditions", and saying America should not be the world’s police force or arms dealer. No carrier for it resolved. Of the five Facebook urls in the gathered sources, every one returned 400 and every one belongs to a different account: the Washington Examiner, the Jerusalem Post, and two private individuals posting about Libertarians and Israel in general. None is his page. This would be his most specific in-scope statement if it could be sourced.
- Undated [Position band]: His campaign site foreign policy section calls for returning U.S. soldiers "from around the world, including Korea, Japan, Europe, and the entire Middle East", ceasing war propaganda and threats of a blockade, and dropping plans for attacks on Iran. Verified this session.
⚠ **THE GATHER SAID THIS PLATFORM CALLS TO "END FOREIGN MILITARY ASSISTANCE". IT DOES NOT.** Read in full this session, the section is about troop withdrawal and de-escalation and says nothing about assistance or aid. A blanket troop-withdrawal position is not an aid position, and it is not aimed at Israel.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- Nothing located. No statement on UNRWA, Gaza humanitarian funding or the aid pipeline.
Characterization of the conflict
- 2026-08-08 [Position band; SOURCE UNRESOLVED, not used on the card]: The gather reports a Facebook post stating that "an intifada is literally a terrorist act" and describing attacks on Jewish civilians as no different from a pogrom. No carrier resolved. See the source note above.
- 2022-08-28 [Earlier record; SOURCE UNRESOLVED]: The gather reports a Facebook post stating that "it’s not anti-Semitic to bash Israel policies or Israel’s mistreatment of innocent Palestinians", distinguishing political criticism from religious prejudice. No carrier resolved.
- 2026 [Position band; VERIFIED THIS SESSION]: On the same questionnaire, asked about the decline in U.S. military recruitment, he answered: "Decades of forever wars of choice. People would be eager to fight an actual threat against the U.S. People aren’t very eager to fight, kill, and die in third world countries that are no threat to us just to benefit the military industrial complex." The gather presented this as his characterization of Middle East conflicts; on the page it is his answer about recruitment, and it is recorded here as that.
Rhetoric and lobbying
- 2026-04-13 [Position band; SOURCE UNRESOLVED]: The gather reports him criticizing a bipartisan Washington foreign policy consensus he called "UniParty policies". No carrier resolved.
- 2026-08-08 [Position band; SOURCE UNRESOLVED]: The gather reports him criticizing both people who chant "globalize the intifada" and politicians who make false accusations of antisemitism for domestic advantage. No carrier resolved.
- [Consulted]: His Ballotpedia page and his campaign endorsements page carry nothing in scope.
Safety and antisemitism
- 2022-08-28 and 2026-08-08 [Context only, never the answer to what America sends; SOURCE UNRESOLVED]: The gather reports him condemning antisemitism, writing that it is antisemitic "to dehumanize people solely based on their religious beliefs through derogatory language, dog whistles, and unfounded conspiracy theories", and later condemning celebration of violence against Jewish people. No carrier resolved.
Earlier record
- He was the Libertarian candidate for MI-10 in 2022 and 2024 and for MI-09 in 2020. The 2024-cycle iVoterGuide records him as not answering its Israel-related item.
What came back empty or unusable
- Five of thirteen gathered sources are Facebook posts that returned 400, and none of them is his own account. Everything the gather sourced to Facebook is unusable, which is most of what it reported about him.
- A League of Women Voters 2020 voter guide PDF is in the sources and the gather records it as not naming him in retrievable text.
Also in this race: Michael Bouchard (Republican), Christina Bertrand Hines (Democrat), Andrea L. Kirby (Other), Kwabena Nkromo (Green) · All Michigan 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.