But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Kelly Ayotte

Republican · Governor, New Hampshire
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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.

No recorded votes on the bills we track. We found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

As a senator, Ayotte joined three colleagues to introduce a bill letting Congress give the government of Israel $1.5 billion in military aid beyond the agreed ceiling, and signed a letter urging full funding of joint missile-defence programmes. Nothing located from her on U.S. weapons or money since.

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Deep Dive

Ayotte is New Hampshire's governor and a Republican seeking re-election. She served a term in the U.S. Senate before that, and everything on this record about U.S. weapons and money comes from those years.

The clearest item is from September 2016. The United States had just signed a ten-year memorandum of understanding with the government of Israel that capped military aid and required any extra money Congress voted to be returned. She stood with Senators Graham, McCain and Cruz at a Capitol news conference to announce legislation overturning that cap, so that Congress could add $1.5 billion on top. Six months earlier she had signed a bipartisan letter, one of twenty-nine senators, urging appropriators to fully fund the joint missile-defence programmes behind Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow. Both are collective documents and neither carries words attributed to her alone, which is why the card describes what she joined rather than quoting her.

As governor she has kept the relationship warm without returning to the money. She received Israel's consul general to New England at the State House in April 2025, and she is one of twenty-seven Republican governors who signed a statement marking Jewish American Heritage Month in May 2026 and pledging state action against antisemitism. She has spoken against antisemitism at home more than once, including after a state commission seat went to people who deny the Holocaust.

What is missing is anything current on the question this site asks. Her senate record is ten years old, and nothing located since 2017 has her taking a position on U.S. weapons or U.S. money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. Her campaign site is about housing, schools, taxes and public safety. If you want her position now, you are better placed to get it than we are: ask Ayotte directly and send us the reply. It goes on this page in her own words.

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

  • [Earlier record, 2016-09-20] She appeared with Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Ted Cruz at a Capitol news conference announcing legislation to overturn the provision of the new ten-year memorandum of understanding that barred the government of Israel from receiving funds beyond the agreement and required the return of any Congress added, so that $1.5 billion more could be granted. Two independent outlets report her part in it: the Times of Israel, which names her among the senators who told the news conference they planned to introduce the legislation and in its photograph caption, and the Post and Courier, whose own reporter describes Senator Graham announcing it "flanked by fellow defense hawks U.S. Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Ted Cruz of Texas". Neither quotes her own words, so this is what she joined, not a statement of hers.
  • [Earlier record, 2016-03-21] One of twenty-nine senators signing a bipartisan letter urging defense appropriators to fully fund U.S.-Israel missile-defence cooperation, including Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow. The lead sponsors' release lists "Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.)" among the signatories. Collective wording only.
  • [Earlier record, 2012-09-22] In a Senate debate on foreign assistance she argued against eliminating aid to allies in the region, on the ground that disengagement would empower radical elements. The only source located is a congressional weekly archive page, described here and not quoted.
  • [Position, 2017 onward] Nothing located in which she takes a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel. Her campaign site, read 2026-08-17, sets out housing, schools, taxes and public safety and carries nothing on this subject.
  • [Undated, no source] An earlier summary of her record states that she has co-led bipartisan resolutions standing with the government of Israel and condemning terrorist attacks. No publication, document number, date or address was found for it. Our search found the letters and the bill above but no such resolution, so the claim is left here in its own terms, unsharpened and unlinked. It may well refer to the 2014 and 2015 items below.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • [Earlier record, 2014-09-11] She co-authored a bipartisan Senate letter urging the State Department to support Palestinian Authority efforts to govern and demilitarize Gaza, reported by the Times of Israel. It concerns who governs Gaza rather than the level of U.S. humanitarian funding.
  • Nothing located on U.S. humanitarian funding, on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or on aid access, in any band.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Earlier record, 2014-07-11] She co-sponsored a Senate resolution on the right of the government of Israel to defend itself against rocket attacks and calling on the Palestinian Authority president to end a unity arrangement with Hamas, reported by the Times of Israel.
  • [Earlier record, 2014-10-17] She co-signed a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General defending Israeli military operations in Gaza as a measured response and criticizing United Nations statements, described in a Foreign Policy in Focus account that is critical of the letter. Collective wording; nothing is attributed to her alone, and the account's own framing is the author's.
  • [Earlier record, 2015-01] She was one of 73 senators signing a letter opposing the Palestinian Authority president's approach to the International Criminal Court. The only source located is a positions-catalogue site that could not be opened, so this is described from what our research found and is neither quoted nor linked.
  • Nothing located from her on the current war, in any band.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Earlier record, 2014-05-18 and 2015-10-15] She addressed gatherings of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Recorded on a public-record compilation site rather than in her own words, and used for nothing beyond the fact of the appearances.
  • [Position, 2025-04-02] As governor she received Israel's consul general to New England at the State House in Concord. Same source limitation; the fact of the meeting only.
  • [Position, 2026-05-11] She is one of twenty-seven Republican governors named as signatories to a statement marking Jewish American Heritage Month and pledging state action against antisemitism. Her name appears on the published list. Collective wording. A companion release from another governor's office carries the same text. She signed a comparable statement in May 2025.
  • No endorsement from any tracked advocacy group is recorded.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

  • [Position, 2026-04-29] After a state lawmaker's attempt to give Holocaust deniers a role in shaping history lessons, KPBS's account of the episode records her response that there is no place for antisemitism or hate of any kind in New Hampshire and that Holocaust deniers have no business on state commissions. A second New Hampshire outlet carried it too; that address could not be opened and is not linked.
  • [Position, 2025-08] She condemned a neo-Nazi march in Concord. The only source located is a social-media post that returns an error, so her words are described rather than quoted.
  • [Position, 2025-04-14] She proclaimed a day against anti-Jewish hatred in New Hampshire. Same source problem; described, not quoted.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-11-27] She took part in a solidarity gathering outside a defence manufacturer's New Hampshire facility after it was vandalized. Dated in the weeks after October 7, 2023, so it is listed here but not used for the card. Its only source could not be opened.
  • [Earlier record, 2011-12-02] She sat on the Helsinki Commission for a hearing on antisemitism abroad; the hearing transcript is public.

Race and status context

  • Incumbent governor of New Hampshire and a candidate in the Republican primary, per Ballotpedia's race page and her Ballotpedia profile, read 2026-07-11. The National Governors Association and USAGov both identify her as the sitting governor.
  • Source we could not open, written out so a reader can see exactly what is missing: https://www.ayotte.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2262 . It did not respond on 2026-08-17. It was cited for an endorsements check that came back empty, not for the resolutions claim, so even if it opened it is not the source that claim needs.
  • She holds no federal office now, so the congressional votes this site tracks are not hers.

Also in this race

  1. – Cinde Warmington (Democrat)
  2. – Stephen Villee (Libertarian)

All New Hampshire candidates.

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 Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.