But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Yvette D. Clarke
- Backed with $15K by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (lifetime)
- Endorsed by AIPAC
Clarke backs continued U.S. funding for Iron Dome and Israeli defences. She voted against the Israel-only supplemental, calling it a "cynical ploy that will only worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza", and demands Israel let food and medicine into Gaza.
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You asked Yvette D. Clarke where they stand.
Deep Dive
Clarke represents New York’s 9th District in central Brooklyn, chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, and is running for re-election.
Her record holds both directions of the money question at once, and all of it is on her own House site. In April 2024, after Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel, she said the attack "encapsulates the need to continue funding critical systems like the Iron Dome and aiding Israeli defenses with our nation’s military assets", and that "The United States has a responsibility to stand with our ally by supporting Israel’s ability to protect its people and territory from wanton aggression".
Two months earlier she had voted against a standalone Israel aid bill and explained why in her own words: "Instead of serving the interests of our national security, this legislation stands as a cynical ploy that will only worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and benefits terror groups like Hamas, who look to capitalize off of the unfolding chaos. We cannot justifiably ignore the plight of the Palestinian people caught in the middle." So a No vote on an Israel aid bill and support for funding Israeli missile defence are, on her account, the same position.
On U.S. aid to Palestinians she has been direct. In July 2025 she said "the continuation of famine in Gaza is a moral catastrophe that America cannot and must not abide by", that "Israel takes every possible action to ensure food, water, and medicine flow into the Strip at once" is crucial, and urged the administration to use its influence to make that happen.
She has called a two-state solution the only acceptable foundation for peace. Her recorded votes on the tracked bills are shown separately on this card.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 3 of 6 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.
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.
Voted to send weapons or funding in exactly half of their recorded tracked votes. The tie is broken by money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track and an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 3 of 6 tracked votes.)
The money
$15K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
In their words
AIPAC (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
- 2024-04-19 [Current position; VERIFIED]: Statement on her House site after Iran's attack: "While, thankfully, none of the 170 drones or 30 missiles launched by the Islamic Republic pierced Israeli territory, last weekend's attack encapsulates the need to continue funding critical systems like the Iron Dome and aiding Israeli defenses with our nation's military assets. The United States has a responsibility to stand with our ally by supporting Israel's ability to protect its people and territory from wanton aggression." Read on the page.
- 2024-02-07 [Current position; VERIFIED]: Statement in opposition to H.R. 7217, the Israel-only supplemental: "Instead of serving the interests of our national security, this legislation stands as a cynical ploy that will only worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and benefits terror groups like Hamas, who look to capitalize off of the unfolding chaos. We cannot justifiably ignore the plight of the Palestinian people caught in the middle."
⚠ **BADGE VERSUS POSITION, RESOLVED BY THE CANDIDATE HERSELF, ON HER OWN SITE, ABOUT THE EXACT TRACKED BILL.** Her badge records a No on H.R. 7217 (118th Congress). Read alone that looks like opposition to aiding Israel. Her statement, published the day of the vote and titled for the bill, says she opposed it because it ignored Palestinian humanitarian need. Our writing rules permit characterizing a vote when the candidate has spoken about it, and this record meets that condition cleanly.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- 2025-07-29 [Current position; VERIFIED]: "Clarke Demands End to Famine in Gaza": "Let me be clear: the continuation of famine in Gaza is a moral catastrophe that America cannot and must not abide by. It is crucial that Israel takes every possible action to ensure food, water, and medicine flow into the Strip at once, and I urge the Trump Administration to use its immense influence to" secure it. She also said "the well-being of the Palestinian people [is] Israel's responsibility, and only Israel can pull them back from this devastation", and that the conflict had reached an "unbearable breaking point".
This is an aid-access position directed at Israel and at the U.S. administration's leverage, rather than a U.S. appropriations position, and the card is worded to that distinction.
Characterization of the conflict
- 2023-11-02 [Months after October 7, 2023; on this page only]: Her statement on the war: "devastated by wanton loss of life", condemning the Hamas attacks "wholeheartedly", raising grave concern for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and calling for immediate humanitarian corridors.
- 2024-10-07 [Current position]: One-year statement condemning the "heinous acts of brutality" at Kfar Aza and the Nova Music Festival, saying both "Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in dignity, safety, and security", and calling for a lasting ceasefire.
- 2025-10-07 [Current position]: Second-anniversary statement mourning those killed and grieving the "countless Palestinians and Israelis who have been lost to the terrible war".
- 2025-01-15 [Current position]: On the ceasefire and hostage deal she called a two-state solution "the only acceptable foundation for peace".
Rhetoric and lobbying
- 2020-06-16 [Earlier record]: She pledged to remain a "fierce defender" of Israel while representing her Brooklyn constituency (Jewish Insider). Predates 2023-10-07.
- 2024-02-07 [Current position]: In the same H.R. 7217 statement she accused House Republican leadership of partisan manoeuvring on Israel legislation.
- 2026-08 [Current position]: As Congressional Black Caucus chair she defended established Democratic leadership against progressive criticism on Middle East policy, calling remarks aimed at older Black political leaders "ignorant" (The Nation, 2026-08-03). About intra-party politics, not about what America sends.
Safety and antisemitism
[Context only, never the answer to what America sends. Antisemitism legislation is named out of scope by the content rule.]
- 2018-04-24 [Earlier record]: She condemned attacks on Jewish residents in Crown Heights, saying "hate crimes and violence of any kind have no place in Brooklyn and will not be tolerated".
- 2019-03-22 [Earlier record]: She backed a New York City Office of Hate Crime Prevention.
- 2024-04-18 [Current position; out of scope]: Her statement on voting against H.Res. 883, which she called performative and said conflated slogans with antisemitism instead of delivering safety for Jewish communities.
- 2024-05-02 [Current position; out of scope]: Her statement on voting against H.R. 6090, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which she called "inherently divisive" while affirming the urgency of combating antisemitism.
- 2024-10-07 [Current position]: She raised the rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobia in her district, saying visibly religious constituents felt unsafe.
What came back empty or unusable
- Nothing unusable. Twelve of fourteen sources are her own House statements and all three card-leading ones were read. This is a well-sourced record.
Also in this race
- ?Mixed Joel Anabilah-Azumah (Republican)
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