But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Paul Tonko
Tonko says existing U.S. law forbids military aid to gross human rights violators and that Netanyahu’s government meets that standard, so he will not back more aid enabling it to "bomb other countries relentlessly" on American taxpayers’ account.
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You asked Paul Tonko where they stand.
Deep Dive
Tonko represents New York’s 20th District. His position rests on a legal argument rather than a general objection, and he has held it consistently for two years.
In April 2024, on foreign aid legislation, he expressed deep concerns about sending additional offensive weapons to Israel and urged the administration to use existing federal law to scrutinise the Israeli government’s conduct and withhold military assistance where human rights or international law violations occurred.
By July 2026 he stated the conclusion directly: U.S. law forbids military aid to entities committing gross human rights violations, the Netanyahu government meets that standard through its conduct in Gaza, and he would not support additional military aid enabling it to "bomb other countries relentlessly with the implicit support of the American taxpayers".
In between, at a Troy town hall in June 2025, he labelled the Gaza conflict a genocide.
On the first anniversary of the attacks he condemned Hamas’s assault as a terrorist action and the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust, while describing unprecedented anguish in Gaza and calling for an immediate permanent ceasefire. His recorded votes on the tracked bills are shown separately on this card.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 6 tracked votes · Cosponsors the Block the Bombs Act
• Vote record imported from official House Clerk roll calls for H.R. 6126, H.R. 8034, and H.R. 8369. Other position fields remain under investigation.
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 some, but no more than half, of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 6 tracked votes.)
The money
Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found
In their words
Peace Action (2026 endorsement) · A New Policy PAC (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
- 2024-04-20 [Current position]: Official statement on foreign aid legislation expressing deep concerns about sending additional offensive weapons to Israel, and urging the administration to use existing federal law to scrutinise Israeli government conduct and withhold military assistance if human rights or international law violations occurred.
- 2026-07-15 [Current position]: Press statement on an amendment to halt certain U.S. funding: existing U.S. law forbids military aid to entities committing gross human rights violations; the Netanyahu government meets that standard through its conduct in Gaza; he would not support additional military aid enabling the prime minister to "bomb other countries relentlessly with the implicit support of the American taxpayers".
Characterization of the conflict
- 2024-10-07 [Current position]: Marking one year since the attacks, he condemned the Hamas assault as a "terrorist action" and the "deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust", while highlighting "unprecedented anguish in Gaza", noting the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, and calling for an immediate permanent ceasefire. Statements at DocumentID 4234 and 4325.
- 2025-06-18 [Current position]: At a Troy town hall he labelled the Gaza conflict a genocide. Independent local reporting, which makes it a well-sourced genocide characterisation.
Rhetoric and lobbying
- Further statement at DocumentID 4174, from which an initial search extracted no dated in-scope claim, and a video.
Safety and antisemitism
- Nothing located separately from the anniversary statement above.
What came back empty or unusable
- No statement located on U.S. aid to Palestinians or UNRWA as a budget line.
- Five of seven source pages are his own House permalinks. Stable but not independent, with the WAMC town-hall report the notable exception.
Also in this race
- ✗Supports Ralph Ambrosio (Republican)
All New York candidates.
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