Chris Backemeyer
Backemeyer, a career State Department official who coordinated Middle East assistance programs, has taken no located campaign positions on aid to Israel, aid to Palestinians, or the conflict. His campaign priorities page covers healthcare, costs, and national security without mentioning Israel.
Backemeyer is the Democratic nominee in Nebraska’s 1st District, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and White House National Security Council staffer.
His professional record is easy to confuse with a position record, and this card keeps them separate. In a 2024 interview with UC San Diego’s GPS News he described his then-current job: "In my current role, I coordinate all of the foreign assistance that we provide throughout the Middle East and North Africa, which is about $7 billion worth of economic, military and other assistance." That is a job description delivered in an alumni profile, not a campaign stance on aid to Israel, and no located source has him converting that career into a position on any tracked topic.
His campaign priorities page leads on healthcare, costs, and "Restoring American Leadership & National Security", citing Situation Room experience and confronting adversaries "like China, Russia, and Iran"; it does not mention Israel, Gaza, or the Palestinians. His located campaign-trail foreign-policy comments concern the 2026 U.S. military operation in Iran and congressional war powers, which sit on the research page.
Nothing located has him addressing U.S. aid to Palestinians, the conflict itself, or antisemitism as a candidate.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- Nothing located as a campaign position at any date. [Career context, 2024-05-24] The GPS News alumni profile, verified: he described coordinating about $7 billion in Middle East and North Africa assistance as a State Department official. Official duties, not a stance.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- Nothing located at any date. [Career context, 2023-09-14] An Atlantic Council panel appearance on the Abraham Accords, speaking in his official capacity about Palestinians deriving economic benefits over time; official-capacity remarks, not campaign positions.
Characterization of the conflict
- Nothing located as a candidate. In the GPS News profile he noted a regional energy-and-water project was "unfortunately, on pause, given the Gaza conflict"; an aside in a career interview.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Iran, 2026-03] The Lincoln Journal Star, verified in the article lede: he criticized Nebraska’s delegation for "rubberstamping" the President’s military operation in Iran, saying lawmakers have "an obligation to be making sure that all the right questions have been asked." Iran war-powers material, off the card.
- His April 2026 podcast interview discussing his State Department career, including the 2015 Iran nuclear negotiations, is career narration on the same terms.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- Nothing located.
Race and status context
- Democratic nominee against sitting Rep. Mike Flood, whose card carries its own record.
Also in this race: Mike Flood (Republican) · All Nebraska 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.