But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Timothy M. Kennedy
- Backed with $16K by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (lifetime)
- Endorsed by AIPAC +1 more
Kennedy says "America and its military stand with Israel" and calls the relationship ironclad. He called reports of mass starvation of Palestinians "completely unacceptable", saying "no one should ever die of hunger, especially children".
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You asked Timothy M. Kennedy where they stand.
Deep Dive
Kennedy represents New York’s 26th District around Buffalo. He was first elected in an April 2024 special election and is running for re-election.
On U.S. support for Israel he is unqualified. In October 2024, after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel, he said: "In the wake of Iran launching a ballistic missile attack against Israel, America and its military stand with Israel. Israel’s right to defend itself and our ironclad relationship are key to ensuring the safety and security of the region." In June 2025, after Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets, he again said Israel has a right to defend itself and stressed the U.S. security alliance.
On Gaza he has been blunt in the other direction. In July 2025 he wrote that the administration’s "strategic and moral failure has led to deteriorating conditions, with new reports and images of mass starvation of Palestinians. This is completely unacceptable. No one should ever die of hunger, especially children." An initial search reports he also called for an immediate increase in humanitarian aid and said Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live with dignity, security and peace.
In September 2025 he co-signed a letter to the Secretary of State urging engagement with Arab League states to press Hamas to surrender, calling for the unconditional release of hostages and Hamas’s removal from power, and advocating a two-state solution. Much of his remaining record is work on federal security grants for houses of worship, which is context here rather than a position on what America sends. His recorded votes and his funding from pro-Israel committees are shown separately on this card.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 3 tracked votes
• 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 more than half of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 3 tracked votes.)
The money
$16K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
In their words
AIPAC (2026 endorsement) · DMFI 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
- 2024-10-01 [Current position; VERIFIED]: Statement after Iran's ballistic missile attack: "In the wake of Iran launching a ballistic missile attack against Israel, America and its military stand with Israel. Israel's right to defend itself and our ironclad relationship are key to ensuring the safety and security of the region. I support the United States' continued effort to bring lasting peace to the Middle East." Read on the page.
- 2025-06-13 [Current position]: Statement after Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear targets, calling an Iranian nuclear weapon a global threat, reiterating Israel's right to defend itself and emphasising the U.S. and Israeli security alliance.
- ⚠ **ONE SOURCE FOUND IS A DIFFERENT PERSON ENTIRELY.** A release from kennedy.senate.gov about delaying weapons to Israel belongs to **Senator John Kennedy (R-LA)**, writing with Senator Cotton. It is not this candidate and carries nothing of his. Notably an initial search’s own identity note says he "is distinct from U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA)" and it attached the senator's press release anyway. Excluded.
- 2023-07-18 [Earlier record; another member's release]: A release from Rep. Wasserman Schultz's office, predating his election to Congress.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- 2025-07-26 [Current position; VERIFIED]: Statement on the humanitarian situation: "Hamas continues to hold innocent people hostage because of his ineffective diplomacy. His strategic and moral failure has led to deteriorating conditions, with new reports and images of mass starvation of Palestinians. This is completely unacceptable. No one should ever die of hunger, especially children." Read on the page; the criticism of "ineffective diplomacy" is directed at the administration. An initial search additionally reports he called for an immediate increase in humanitarian aid and said "the Israeli and Palestinian people deserve to live with dignity, security, and peace"; those sentences were not located in the text read and are recorded as an initial search’s.
Characterization of the conflict
- 2024-10-07 [Current position]: One-year anniversary statement describing the event as a "horrific attack on the State of Israel" in which Hamas took hostages and killed civilians.
- 2025-09-26 [Current position]: Co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Rubio led by Rep. Auchincloss, describing the October 7 attack as terrorism, calling for unconditional release of hostages and removal of Hamas from power in Gaza, and advocating a two-state solution rooted in security and diplomacy. A multi-signatory document carried on another member's site, so his signature is not independently confirmed here.
Rhetoric and lobbying
- 2025-08 [Current position]: He took part in an educational congressional delegation trip to Israel; local advocacy groups protested outside his district office on 2025-08-21.
- 2025-09-26 [Current position]: The same Auchincloss letter urged the State Department to engage Arab League member states to pressure Hamas to surrender.
Safety and antisemitism
[Context only, never the answer to what America sends. This is the largest part of the record found for him.]
- 2025-03-21 [Current position]: Co-signed a bipartisan letter urging release of paused Nonprofit Security Grant Program funds protecting synagogues and houses of worship.
- 2025-12-18 [Current position]: He introduced the DHS Grants Accountability Act, H.R. 6507, on oversight of federal security grants for non-profit and faith-based institutions (sector coverage).
- 2026-03-20 [Current position]: He joined 148 members requesting $1 billion for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
- 2026-05-20 [Current position]: He spoke at a bipartisan Jewish American Heritage Month breakfast organised by the Combat Antisemitism Movement and the Jewish Federations of North America. An advocacy host, recorded as consulted.
What came back empty or unusable
- One source found belongs to a different member of Congress with the same surname, in the other chamber, in another state.
- Two are other members' press releases; two are general Wikipedia pages about 2024 and about his own special election; one is a YouTube url with no retrievable text.
- His most detailed in-scope statements are the two verified above; the rest of the record is security-grant work, which is context.
Also in this race
- –No Position Found Dennis Hannon (Republican)
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See everyone on the New York ballot →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.