But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Tim Walberg
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You asked Tim Walberg where they stand.
Deep Dive
Walberg represents Michigan's 5th District, along the state's southern border.
The town hall in Dundee is a clear statement against U.S. humanitarian aid for Gaza. A constituent asked why the United States was spending money to build a port, a question NBC News reported as referring to the plan to deliver aid by floating dock, and he answered: "It's Joe Biden's reason: We need to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. I don't think we should." At the same meeting he said "We shouldn't be spending a dime on humanitarian aid," and then: "It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick."
He did not withdraw the position. He told a Detroit station he had "used a metaphor to convey the need for both Israel and Ukraine to win their wars as swiftly as possible, without putting American troops in harm's way", and told constituents a week later that "I was talking about military aid and full-scale assaults conducted by both Israel and Ukraine to quickly win their respective wars". Neither statement addresses the humanitarian-aid remark, and nothing later from him does either.
On weapons and money he is straightforward. His official issues page rests his Israel position on U.S. military assistance: "Since Israel's founding, the United States has demonstrated its commitment to Israel's security and has maintained close defense and diplomatic cooperation. In 2016 the House supported and then President Obama signed into law a long-term Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on military assistance to Israel, which will provide security assistance to Israel for ten years." The same page lists him as a cosponsor of the United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act, and says nothing about humanitarian aid to Gaza, about the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, or about any condition on a transfer.
His votes match, and they are worth naming. He voted for the April 2024 package, of which $4 billion was for the Iron Dome and David's Sling interceptor systems and $1.2 billion for Iron Beam, at a reported 34,049 people killed in Gaza, 14,685 of them children. Four weeks later he voted for the bill written to force delivery of the 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs the administration had paused, a different kind of weapon, at a reported 35,272 killed. He voted against striking $500 million for Israeli Cooperative Programs in 2025, and against the July 2026 amendment that would have barred the year's funds for Israel and cut $3.3 billion from Foreign Military Financing, taken at a reported 73,246 killed. His research page carries his committee work on campus antisemitism, which is a separate question.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 6 of 6 tracked votes
• His official Foreign Affairs issues page, undated and read in full on this date, sets out his views by country; the Israel section rests on U.S. military assistance, noting the ten-year U.S. Memorandum of Understanding on military assistance to Israel that the House supported in 2016, and says the United States must continue to stand with Israel as it defends itself. The page says nothing about humanitarian aid to Gaza, UNRWA, or any condition on U.S. weapons transfers.
• His campaign issues section, read in full on this date, carries six issue areas: national security, jobs and economic growth, fiscal responsibility, health care, defending our values and fixing the Biden economy. None of them mentions Israel, Gaza, foreign aid or U.S. military assistance of any kind; the national-security page is about U.S. troops, veterans, counter-terrorism and missile threats.
• At a constituent meeting in Matteson Township reported on this date, he said his Dundee remark had been misread and that he had been talking about U.S. military aid to Israel and to Ukraine as the way for each to win its war quickly.
• In a statement given to FOX 2 Detroit after the town-hall video circulated, he said his remarks had been taken out of context and were a metaphor about ending the wars in Gaza and Ukraine quickly; the portion FOX 2 published says nothing further about U.S. humanitarian aid spending.
• At a town hall in Dundee, Michigan, a constituent asked why the United States was spending its money to build a port, a question NBC News reported as referring to the Biden administration's plan to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by floating dock, and he replied that he did not think the United States should be getting humanitarian aid into Gaza. NBC reported that he said at the same meeting the United States should send no humanitarian aid to Gaza, quoting him: "We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid."
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 6 of 6 tracked votes.)
The money
$31K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
In their words
AIPAC (2026 endorsement)
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
- [Position, undated, read 2026-08-19] His official Foreign Affairs issues page, read in full (2,170 words) and confirmed word for word. The Israel section: "Since Israel's founding, the United States has demonstrated its commitment to Israel's security and has maintained close defense and diplomatic cooperation. In 2016 the House supported and then President Obama signed into law a long-term Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on military assistance to Israel, which will provide security assistance to Israel for ten years." It continues that the United States must keep standing with Israel as it defends itself. The page's own cosponsorship list records "02/26/2025 - Cosponsor: H.R.1229 - United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act", along with earlier cosponsorships of H.R. 3792, H.Res. 346 and H.R. 2748.
- [Position, 2024-03-25] At the Dundee town hall he framed the argument as being about military rather than humanitarian aid, per Michigan Public.
- [Position, 2024-04-03] To constituents at Matteson Township he said "I was talking about military aid and full-scale assaults conducted by both Israel and Ukraine to quickly win their respective wars", per Yahoo News's carriage of the local report.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-14] His e-newsletter, "Standing with Israel", saying the United States is a long-time ally and must continue to provide defense support. Not on the card summary.
- The munitions and dollar figures used on the card come from this site's own tracked-legislation registry, and the death tolls from its vote-context records. See the verification log.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2024-03-25] At a town hall in Dundee, Michigan, reported by NBC News and confirmed word for word (957 words read). Asked "Why are we spending our money to build a port for them?", which NBC reported as referring to the plan to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by floating dock, he replied: "It's Joe Biden's reason: We need to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. I don't think we should." At the same meeting: "We shouldn't be spending a dime on humanitarian aid," and "It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick." The report also carries criticism of the remarks from four other Michigan politicians, whose words are theirs and not his.
- [Position, 2024-04-01] His statement to FOX 2 Detroit: "I used a metaphor to convey the need for both Israel and Ukraine to win their wars as swiftly as possible, without putting American troops in harm's way." The portion published says nothing further about humanitarian-aid spending.
- [Position, 2024-04-01] Anadolu Agency's account of the same statement.
- Nothing from him on the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees was located.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2024-03-25] "It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick," per NBC News above, with the reporter's note that hundreds of thousands of people died in the two bombings.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-14] Called the attacks unthinkable acts of violence and described Hamas as using barbaric tactics against civilians, in the e-newsletter above. Not on the card summary.
- [Position, 2026] His official page's news list carries items on the ceasefire deal and on the second anniversary of the attacks that started the war; the anniversary item is a later reference to in-window events and is not used on the card.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-14] Criticized a Dearborn rally where participants voiced support for Hamas, calling the rhetoric morally repugnant. Not on the card summary.
- [Position, 2025-08-21] One of seven signatories to the Michigan Republican delegation's letters asking the State Department to deny a visa to a Palestinian speaker at a Detroit conference and asking the Justice Department to investigate the conference, read in full on the lead signatory's site. Collective wording only. Shared with other candidates on this site.
- His funding block records support from two of the five tracked committees, which is a badge on this card. Nothing he has said about it was located.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Position, 2025-06-26] Spoke at the March for Jewish Civil Rights in Washington, per a Legistorm release feed.
- [Position, 2025-07-15] At a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing he said faculty groups, unions and university policies were enabling antisemitic hostility on campus; his opening statement was read.
- [Position, 2026-03-17] Released the committee report "How Campuses Became Hotbeds: The Rise of Radical Antisemitism on College Campuses", saying higher-education leaders failed their duty under Title VI. Also carried on his own site.
- [Position, 2026-03-19] An op-ed after an attempted vehicle attack on a synagogue in West Bloomfield.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-14] Letter to the Secretary of Education demanding enforcement of universities' obligations to protect Jewish students. Not on the card summary.
Race and status context
- He is the incumbent and the nominee for this seat. His campaign's issues section carries six issue areas, none of which mentions Israel, Gaza, foreign aid or U.S. military assistance; its national-security page is about American troops, veterans, counter-terrorism and missile threats.
Consulted
- His House site's issues page and newsletter archive, his campaign's issues section, NBC News, Michigan Public, FOX 2 Detroit, Yahoo News, Anadolu Agency, Legistorm, the Education and Workforce Committee's releases, and two YouTube items with no recoverable text naming him.
Also in this race
- ?Mixed Christian Vukasovich (Democrat)
- –No Position Found Ronald A. Muszynski (Libertarian)
- ✓Opposes Jim Bronke (Green)
- –No Position Found Sharon Marie Renier (Other)
All Michigan candidates.
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