But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Cindy Hyde-Smith
- Backed with $15K by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (lifetime)
- Endorsed by AIPAC
- Sits on Senate Appropriations
Hyde-Smith cosponsored a bill to force delivery of weapons the administration had withheld from the government of Israel, saying the president was "turning his back on our Israeli allies." Her recorded votes run the same way: against every resolution that would have blocked an arms sale to it.
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Deep Dive
Hyde-Smith is Mississippi's junior senator and the Republican nominee for re-election. Her position on this question has not moved: more U.S. weapons for the government of Israel, and no conditions attached to them.
In May 2024, after the administration said it would withhold 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs if a full-scale operation went ahead in Rafah, she cosponsored the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, which would have compelled delivery of those bombs and cancelled the salaries of officials who acted to withhold them, along with a companion resolution condemning the pause. Her own announcement said the president "is not acting in the best interests of the United States by turning his back on our Israeli allies", and that the change of policy "only plays into the hands of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and others who seek to destroy Israel".
On money for Palestinians she has a record too, and it runs in the other direction. In June 2021 she pressed the Senate to pass a bill requiring the president to certify that U.S. funds spent in Gaza could not benefit Hamas, telling the chamber she was concerned that "foreign aid—U.S. taxpayer dollars—could end up in the hands of those who have boldly proclaimed their intent to do harm to Israel and our interests in the region". A Democratic objection stopped it. That is her only located statement on U.S. money for Palestinians, and it is about certification rather than about the level of aid.
Her votes are rendered on this card and they match what she says: on every resolution that would have blocked a proposed arms sale or export licence to the government of Israel, she voted the way that let the sale proceed. Those sales were 120-millimetre tank rounds, high-explosive mortar rounds and JDAM bomb guidance kits in November 2024, roughly $8.8 billion of bombs and guidance kits in April 2025 including $2.04 billion of 2,000-pound bombs, 1,000-pound bombs with JDAM kits and automatic rifles in July 2025, and armoured bulldozers and 1,000-pound bombs in April 2026, at a reported death toll by then of 72,344 with 20,179 children among them. Nothing located has her supporting conditions on those weapons tied to humanitarian conduct in Gaza. The same commitment predates the war. Marking the anniversary of Israel's founding in May 2023, she said "A strong U.S.-Israel relationship is critical to both of our nations' security, and I will continue to stand with Israel, as Israel stands with us".
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 10 of 10 tracked votes
Senate Committee on Appropriations
• Voted 'Nay' on all three Nov. 20, 2024 motions to discharge Israel arms-sale disapproval resolutions: S.J.Res.111 (Vote 292), S.J.Res.113 (Vote 293), and S.J.Res.115 (Vote 294), voting against blocking the sales.
• Voted 'Nay' on both Apr. 3, 2025 motions to discharge Israel arms-sale disapproval resolutions: S.J.Res.33 (Vote 165) and S.J.Res.26 (Vote 166).
• Voted 'Nay' on both Jul. 30, 2025 motions to discharge Israel arms disapproval resolutions: S.J.Res.41 (Vote 454) and S.J.Res.34 (Vote 455).
• Voted 'Nay' on both Apr. 15, 2026 motions to discharge Israel arms-sale disapproval resolutions: S.J.Res.32 (Vote 80) and S.J.Res.138 (Vote 81), even as 40 and 36 senators respectively voted to block the sales.
• In May 2024 cosponsored the Israel Security Assistance Support Act (S.4337, led by Sen. Tom Cotton) to compel the Biden administration to complete arms deliveries to Israel, and cosponsored S.Res.682 condemning the administration's pause on shipping U.S.-made ammunition and weapons to Israel.
• Her 2026 campaign's fundraising includes the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) PAC as a significant donation source, per a Mississippi Today review of FEC filings (Oct. 2025).
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 10 of 10 tracked votes.)
The money
$15K 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, 2024-05-14] Cosponsored the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, the bill to compel delivery of withheld weapons and to cancel the salaries of officials implementing any withholding, and cosponsored the companion resolution condemning the pause. Her own release, read and verified verbatim 2026-08-17: "President Biden, in his growing desperation, is not acting in the best interests of the United States by turning his back on our Israeli allies. Israel has had to fight for its survival from its founding and we’ve always been there for them. The President’s departure from this policy only plays into the hands of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and others who seek to destroy Israel," The span ends at the comma the page prints before its attribution. The same page carries the lead sponsor's own statement, which is his and is not attributed to her.
- [Position, 2024 to 2026] Her recorded votes on the arms-sale disapproval resolutions are rendered on this card with their own official roll-call sources and are not re-listed here. Their direction is uniform: against blocking each proposed sale or export licence to the government of Israel. She also voted for the April 2024 national security supplemental.
- [Earlier record, 2018-06] She cosponsored a United States-Israel security assistance authorization bill and, in a June 2018 release, backed foreign-operations funding of $3.3 billion in military aid, saying the commitment to Israel is "backed up with funding in this bill". The only address our search found for that release is a public-statements archive that returned a server error on every route, so the span is described here and is neither quoted on the card nor linked.
- Nothing located in which she supports conditioning U.S. weapons on humanitarian conduct in Gaza.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Earlier record, 2021-06-16] Senate floor remarks pressing for unanimous consent to pass the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act, which would require the president to certify to Congress that U.S. funds authorized for Gaza can be spent without benefiting terrorist organizations. Her own release, read and verified verbatim: "As the annual appropriations process moves along, I am concerned, as are many of my colleagues, that foreign aid—U.S. taxpayer dollars—could end up in the hands of those who have boldly proclaimed their intent to do harm to Israel and our interests in the region." And: "The most recent wave of violence in the Middle East makes it clear that our resources must be responsibly spent and kept out of the coffers of terrorist organizations and bad actors whose violence can be bankrolled by commandeering U.S. foreign aid." The page records that a Democratic objection blocked the request. The em dashes are the release's own.
- Nothing located since. No statement on humanitarian funding for Gaza in the current war, and none on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
Characterization of the conflict
- Carried inside the statements above: the May 2024 release frames the withholding as help to Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.
- [Earlier record, 2021-05-19] At a Capitol news conference, on her own Senate release, announcing cosponsorship of a resolution on the right of the government of Israel to defend itself.
- [Prior, 2023-05-12] Press release marking the 75th anniversary of Israel's founding, on her cosponsorship of a commemorative resolution, read and verified verbatim: "A strong U.S.-Israel relationship is critical to both of our nations’ security, and I will continue to stand with Israel, as Israel stands with us," The span ends at the comma the page prints before its attribution.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-18] At a party news conference she said the most important thing to do was pray for Israel and then act, on her own Senate release. Not on the card summary.
- [Position, read 2026] Her campaign's issues page is reported to describe Israel as an oasis of freedom, tolerance and economic prosperity. The page, https://cindyhydesmith.com/issue/israel/ , refused every route we tried, so the phrase is described here and is neither quoted nor linked.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Earlier record, 2022-03-31] She joined 67 senators in a bipartisan letter urging the State Department to lead an effort to dismantle the United Nations Human Rights Council's standing commission of inquiry into the conflict, announced by Senator Roger Wicker's office. A 68-signature letter, so the wording is collective and nothing in it is attributed to her alone.
- [Position, 2025-10-15] Mississippi Today, reviewing federal filings, reported the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's political committee among the significant donation sources for her 2026 campaign. Her tracked-committee figures are badges on this card and the numbers are not restated in the prose.
- [Position, 2024-05, unverified] An advocacy compilation site reports that she posted against admitting Palestinian refugees from Gaza to the United States. The only carrier is that site, which is a campaigning compilation rather than a record of her words, and no post of hers was located. Not used.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Position, 2024-05-09] She cosponsored a Senate resolution condemning antisemitism on college campuses and urging enforcement of Title VI, and a bill on people convicted of offences during campus protests. Both appear in her office's regional news listing.
- [Earlier record, 2022-03-31] The 68-senator letter above argues that biased international investigations "further fuel antisemitism worldwide". Collective wording.
Race and status context
- Republican incumbent and nominee for re-election, running against the Democratic nominee Scott Colom and the independent Ty Pinkins, per Ballotpedia's race page and NBC News. Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
- An advocacy compilation site, boughtbyzionism.org, carries a page about her. It is campaigning material rather than a record of her words, and nothing on this card rests on it.
- DATA NOTE: two addresses in this record are Congress.gov application endpoints that return 403 to a reader without a key. They were used only for the identity and cosponsor checks and are not linked here.
Also in this race
- ?Mixed Scott Colom (Democrat)
- ✓Opposes Ty Pinkins (Independent)
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