But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Maad Abu-Ghazalah
Libertarian · U.S. House, North Carolina District 7
✓Opposes
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: In his September 2026 questionnaire he says he would end U.S. military aid to foreign governments including Israel, and his platform lists Gaza among the wars he would extricate the U.S. from, with nothing pointing the other way. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Asked by Port City Daily in September 2026 what Congress should do about U.S. support for Israel and Ukraine, he answered: "Our defense budget should defend America. I would end U.S. military aid to foreign governments, including Israel, Ukraine, Jordan, and Egypt, and I would vote against the administration’s $1.5-trillion defense request." In the same questionnaire he says he would make sure foreign-agent registration laws "are not circumvented by organizations such as AIPAC that clearly lobby on behalf of a foreign nation." AIPAC is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying organization.
His campaign platform's plank on ending wars names Gaza alongside Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela: "I would extricate our country from all wars that are not purely defensive (none of those listed were), and pledge not to enter into any new ones." A February 2026 release from the Libertarian Party of North Carolina quotes him asking: "how is it we have money for foreign military aid but can’t afford SNAP or Medicare?" Nothing located has him naming U.S. aid for Palestinians.
In their words
“Our defense budget should defend America. I would end U.S. military aid to foreign governments, including Israel, Ukraine, Jordan, and Egypt, and I would vote against the administration’s $1.5-trillion defense request.”
“I would work to ensure our FARA laws are enforced and are not circumvented by organizations such as AIPAC that clearly lobby on behalf of a foreign nation.”
“It just never ENDS: Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza, Venezuela. What have we gotten from these wars but a bankrupt treasury? The only beneficiary of these wars IS the military industrial complex. I would extricate our country from all wars that are not purely defensive (none of those listed were), and pledge not to enter into any new ones.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-10-08 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site was read in full: its home, platform, billboards, podcasts and contact pages. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. Undated pages are recorded on the date we read them. Abu-Ghazalah has never held office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks is his, and no funding from the committees this site tracks is recorded on this record.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
[Position, 2026-09-30] His Port City Daily candidate questionnaire, dated September 30, 2026 in the page's own data. Asked "When it comes to foreign policy, what would you like to see Congress do in terms of our support for Israel and Ukraine, our participation in NATO and other international bodies? Would you push for the administration to get Congressional approval for continued military action in Iran?", he answered: "Our defense budget should defend America. I would end U.S. military aid to foreign governments, including Israel, Ukraine, Jordan, and Egypt, and I would vote against the administration’s $1.5-trillion defense request." The answer goes on to the cost of the war with Iran, the power of the purse, and "I would prioritize funding diplomatic missions over direct military expenditures such as NATO." Elsewhere in the questionnaire he would pay for special-education funding "by redirecting money from overseas military spending and foreign aid."
[Position, read 2026-10-08] His campaign platform, plank "END ALL STUPID WARS": "It just never ENDS: Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza, Venezuela. What have we gotten from these wars but a bankrupt treasury? The only beneficiary of these wars IS the military industrial complex. I would extricate our country from all wars that are not purely defensive (none of those listed were), and pledge not to enter into any new ones." Under "Balance the budget" he would "drastically reduce the military budget".
[Position, 2026-02-26] A Libertarian Party of North Carolina press release, also carried by the National Law Review. In the party's words: "In foreign affairs, Maad does not believe we should be borrowing money to fund militaries abroad – whether it is in Israel (the largest recipient of US foreign aid), Egypt or anywhere." In his: "how is it we have money for foreign military aid but can’t afford SNAP or Medicare?"
[Position, 2026-05-25] His Ballotpedia Candidate Connection answers, which Ballotpedia dates May 25, 2026: "I'm running as the only fiscally responsible, anti-war candidate in the race. We need to focus on solving our problems at home, including our $40 trillion debt instead of bombing children 10,000 miles away." and "Let's not continue to fight wars abroad that have nothing to do with our national interest but, instead, just drain our economy and cause mass devastation abroad." Neither names a country.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located, at any date.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2026-09-30] Port City Daily: "I was born in the West Bank and grew up in Saudi Arabia, which gives me firsthand knowledge of a region that dominates our foreign policy debates and a perspective too often missing in Washington."
[Position, 2026-02-26] The party's February 2026 release describes him, in its own words, as "born into a Israeli military occupation in the West Bank" and says that "According to Maad, the Israeli - Palestinian conflict takes a disproportionate share of America's time and foreign aid budgets." These are the party's words about him, not his own.
[Position, read 2026-10-08] His campaign site's billboards page carries a billboard reading "Did you know ICE is trained by Israel?" alongside "AND THE IDF", and the site carries a passage on U.S.-Israel police exchange programs that cites critics who say they import "repressive tactics developed under Israel's military occupation of Palestinian territories". The passage attributes that view to critics; it is about U.S. policing, not what the United States sends.
[Reaction window, 2023-12-19] WHQR's CoastLine program aired a 50-minute conversation with him on Palestinian culture, his West Bank animal sanctuary and "his hopes for peace". The page summary carries nothing from him on this subject; the audio was not reviewed.
[Earlier record, 2019-03-02] Animal Liberation Currents published an audio interview with him about his sanctuary. Its introduction, "The Israeli occupation of Palestine is merciless. It cuts a deep scar across the whole of Palestinian life," is the publication's own text, not his words; the audio was not reviewed.
[Earlier record, 2002-10-04] J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported on his 2002 run against Representative Tom Lantos: he criticized Lantos's "unconditional support of Israel", said "I don't consider myself anti-Jewish or anti-Israel by any stretch", and spoke of refugees' land rights. The page could be read only in summary form, so this wording is not character-checked.
Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, 2026-09-30] Port City Daily: "I would work to ensure our FARA laws are enforced and are not circumvented by organizations such as AIPAC that clearly lobby on behalf of a foreign nation." FARA is the Foreign Agents Registration Act. In the same questionnaire he objects to 2025 Homeland Security grant terms that "would have required states and cities to certify they wouldn’t boycott Israeli companies" to receive FEMA grants.
[Position, read 2026-10-08] His campaign site's billboards page: "Did you know the israel lobby is the incumbent’s SECOND LARGEST DONOR?" The party's February 2026 release quotes him on the incumbent's donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee: "His acceptance of donations from a lobbyist for a foreign country clearly skews his priorities away from what is important in our district." Both are about another candidate's fundraising.
[Position, read 2026-10-08] His platform's "END CORRUPTION" plank: "If we end corporate and foreign welfare, corporations and foreign countries won’t have an incentive to buy our politicians."
Safety and antisemitism
Nothing located from 2024 onward. The 2002 remark above, "I don't consider myself anti-Jewish or anti-Israel by any stretch", is earlier record and not character-checked.
The race
[Read 2026-10-08] Ballotpedia: "Incumbent David Rouzer, Kimberly Hardy, and Maad Abu-Ghazalah are running in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 7 on November 3, 2026." "The Libertarian primary election was canceled." Michael Henry, an independent, is listed as withdrawn or disqualified.
[2026-04-03] The national Libertarian Party's candidate page: "Retired attorney and political activist. Ran as the Libertarian nominee for US Congress in the San Francisco Bay area in 2002 and got 7% in a contested race."
[Read 2026-10-08] His iVoterGuide profile shows "Did not answer" under every question, including the one on Israel. That is a fact about this guide's coverage, not about his views.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
His personal Facebook https://www.facebook.com/maad.abughazalah , YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@maadabu and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maad-abu-ghazalah/ , as listed by Ballotpedia; the podcasts and the WRAL video on evacuating dogs from the West Bank linked from his campaign site; the WHQR and Animal Liberation Currents audio.
Not on the card, and why
The WHQR program of December 19, 2023: inside the reaction window. Research page only.
The Animal Liberation Currents introduction ("merciless", "a deep scar"): the publication's words, not his. Research page only, attributed to the publication.
The 2002 J. report: earlier record, read only in summary. Research page only.
The party release's own descriptions of him ("born into a Israeli military occupation"; the conflict taking "a disproportionate share"): the party's words, not his. Research page only.
The billboard on the incumbent's donors and his remark on the incumbent's donations: about another candidate's fundraising. Research page only.
The police-exchange passage and the "ICE is trained by Israel" billboard: about U.S. policing, not what the United States sends. Research page only.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
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.
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