But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Pete Ricketts
- Backed with $10K by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (lifetime)
- Endorsed by AIPAC +1 more
- Sits on Senate Foreign Relations
Ricketts wants U.S. support for the government of Israel unconditioned. In October 2024 he called President Biden's foreign policy "appeasement-first" and said: "The U.S. should be offering unconditional support to Israel". Earlier that year he pledged to "permanently ban U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding UNRWA", the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.
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You asked Pete Ricketts where they stand.
Deep Dive
Ricketts, Nebraska's junior senator and a Foreign Relations Committee member, is running for a full term. He has voted against every resolution that would have blocked arms sales to the government of Israel, and he has said why, repeatedly and in his own releases.
In October 2024 he condemned the Biden administration's letter warning of conditions on weapons transfers to the government of Israel: "appeasement-first foreign policy is undermining Israel and emboldening Iran and its terrorist proxies. The U.S. should be offering unconditional support to Israel in their fight to end Hamas and Hezbollah’s brutality. Anything less than that pushes peace further out of reach."
On U.S. money to Palestinians his position is specific. His February 2024 column on UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, called it "an irredeemable organization that plays a critical role in Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure" and said "I’m fighting in the U.S. Senate to permanently ban U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding UNRWA". Cutting money to the UN's Palestinian-refugee agency is a position on aid to Palestinians. In April 2026, at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on reforming the United Nations, he said Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, "has continued to accuse Israel of genocide and promote false narratives on the world stage." In March 2025 the Democratic Majority for Israel criticized him from the other direction, after he said peace requires "both sides at the table"; the group insisted Hamas can have no role. As governor he adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism for Nebraska in 2022.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 10 of 10 tracked votes
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
• Voted Nay (Apr. 3, 2025) on the motions to discharge S.J.Res. 33 (roll 165, rejected 15-82) and S.J.Res. 26 (roll 166, rejected 15-83), resolutions of disapproval that would have blocked proposed foreign military sales to the Government of Israel.
• Voted Nay (Jul. 30, 2025) on the motions to discharge S.J.Res. 41 (roll 454, rejected 27-70) and S.J.Res. 34 (roll 455, rejected 24-73), resolutions to block further arms transfers to Israel.
• Voted Nay (Nov. 20, 2024) on the motion to discharge S.J.Res. 113 (roll 293, rejected 19-78), a resolution to block a proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel.
• Co-introduced, on June 21, 2024, the Maintaining Our Ironclad Commitment to Israel's Security Act (with Risch, Rubio, Scott), which states all approved arms sales to Israel should proceed and requires 15 legislative days' advance notice to Congress before any presidential pause of arms deliveries to Israel.
• Introduced (Oct. 31, 2023) the Stop Support for Hamas Act with Sen. Tim Scott, which would permanently end U.S. funding for UNRWA and restrict aid to the Palestinian Authority.
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.
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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
$10K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
In their words
AIPAC (2026 endorsement) · Republican Jewish Coalition (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, 2024-10-16] Statement, read and verified verbatim: "appeasement-first foreign policy is undermining Israel and emboldening Iran and its terrorist proxies. The U.S. should be offering unconditional support to Israel in their fight to end Hamas and Hezbollah's brutality. Anything less than that pushes peace further out of reach."
- [Reaction window, 2023-11-25] Statement rejecting conditions talk; "anti-Israel propagandists" framing. Not on the card summary.
- His recorded votes against the arms-sale disapproval resolutions (2024-11-20 through 2026-04-15) are shown as badges; the card characterizes them because he has spoken about the policy repeatedly (his June 21, 2024 statement on the Maintaining Our Ironclad Commitment to Israel's Security Act is another instance).
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2024-02-02] Weekly column, in his own words: "UNRWA is an irredeemable organization that plays a critical role in Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure"; "I believe not one penny more of American tax money should go to supporting an organization with ties to terrorism. Not now. Not ever."; "I’m fighting in the U.S. Senate to permanently ban U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding UNRWA and supporting Hamas’ terrorism." The column says the agency "has been called" "effectively a branch of Hamas"; those words are not his own. It cites reported staff involvement in the October 7 attack.
- [Reaction window, 2023-11-01] Press release on his bill: "UNRWA shouldn’t receive a cent of American taxpayer dollars." Not on the card summary.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-31] Introduced the Stop Support for Hamas Act with Sen. Tim Scott, to permanently end UNRWA funding (BillTrack50; his release of the next day says he "introduced" it "yesterday"). His February 2024 column above states the same position.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Reaction window, 2023-12-06] Floor: "we must stand with Israel until Hamas is destroyed utterly"; "humanity will have been done a favor by the state of Israel when Hamas is destroyed" (floor release). Not on the card summary.
- [Position, 2024-01-30] Ricketts Replies video, first installment: "Hamas is responsible for everybody who died on October 7th and everybody who has died since then because they started this war" (release, dated January 30, 2024).
- [Position, 2026-04-15] At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on reforming the United Nations (his release): "Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, has repeatedly used her position to advance extreme and inflammatory claims against Israel" and "She has continued to accuse Israel of genocide and promote false narratives on the world stage. She is doing so under the banner of the United Nations."
- [Position, 2025-09-23, unconfirmed] An account that, rejecting a UN Human Rights Council genocide report, he called the UN "a grossly anti-semitic organization" could not be traced to any page, so it is not confirmed.
- [Position, 2025-03-07] DMFI criticized his remark that "to get to peace [in the Middle East], you have to have both sides at the table"; the group said Hamas must have no post-war role. Carried because it is the one recorded instance of him being pressured from the pro-Israel direction.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Prior, pre-2023] As governor, declared opposition to the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, according to the American Jewish Congress's political guide. Its page on him (ajcongress.org/jewishpoliticalguide/senators/pete-ricketts/) no longer opens, and no other page carrying the claim could be opened, so it is not confirmed.
- [Position, 2024-10-07] Co-sponsored the anniversary resolution condemning Iran-backed Hamas (his release). Multi-sponsor; nothing individual attributed.
- AIPAC support this cycle and RJC lifetime support are badges; not restated.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Prior, 2022-05-05] As governor, proclaimed Jewish American Heritage Month and adopted the IHRA definition for Nebraska by proclamation (as reported by JNS, May 9, 2022).
- [Reaction window, 2023-11-16] Co-sponsored the federal Antisemitism Awareness Act. Not on the card summary; the bill had many sponsors.
- [Position, 2024-01-30] "There is no room for anti-Semitism or any sort of hate" (Ricketts Replies video; the release text does not carry these words, so they are not confirmed).
Also in this race
- ?Mixed Dan Osborn (Independent)
- –No Position Found Chuck Conboy (Other)
- –No Position Found Mike Marvin (Other)
- –No Position Found Robin Richards (Other)
All Nebraska candidates.
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