But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Mitchell Jacob
Jacob’s campaign site says “Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians are clearly war crimes”. The same page says the United States “must cease all economic, political, and military support for Israel until they cease their campaign of violence and aggression”. He has not held elected office.
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You asked Mitchell Jacob where they stand.
Deep Dive
Mitchell Jacob is the Democratic nominee in Oklahoma’s 4th District and faces Rep. Tom Cole and independent Rocco Bonacci on November 3, 2026. He served five and a half years in the Army as a cryptologic linguist, deployed to southern Syria, graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2025 and works as a public defender. He has not held elected office, so there are no votes to set beside what he says.
His campaign site answers this question under a heading of its own. It says every country has the absolute right to defend itself and its people, and then that the bombing and killing of civilians are clearly war crimes and the United States must cease all economic, political and military support for Israel until that campaign of violence and aggression ends. The demand is conditional in his own wording: support stops until the conduct stops. The page carries no date and was read in September 2026.
He put the same view in his own essay on February 1, 2026, writing about the administration’s national security strategy. There he set out his beliefs plainly, that every nation has the right to protect its interests, that no country has the right to wage genocide, commit indiscriminate war crimes or target civilians, and that supporting the government of Israel’s current genocide violates those beliefs. The same essay describes that government as the model the United States now uses for an ally that fights on the ground while American strikes clear the way.
Nothing else he has published addresses U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, and our research found nothing from him on humanitarian aid for Palestinians or on antisemitism. His July 2026 essay against continued spending on the war in Iran is about Iran. His campaign site says he does not accept political action committee money, and it names no organization; a pledge about donations is not a statement about weapons or funding. Two posts on his campaign’s Facebook page are reported to carry further statements, and they could not be read for this card. What is claimed for them, and his writing about who funds his opponent, are on his research page.
The record
• His campaign issues page carries a heading, 'Stance on the War in Israel', under which he calls for the United States to end all economic, political and military support for Israel until Israel stops what he describes as its campaign of violence. This is an explicit position on U.S. support, it is conditional rather than permanent, and it is published under his own name on his own site. The page carries no publication date and was read on this date; it is his live 2026 campaign site, so it is current-position in time.
• A separate heading on the same issues page, 'Acceptance of PAC Money', records a blanket refusal of PAC money. He does not name AIPAC or any other committee. Same dating basis as the first item.
• In a campaign blog post titled 'What Could We Do With a Billion Dollars a Day?' he argued against continued U.S. spending on the war with Iran. The post is about Iran and U.S. taxpayer money, not about transfers to Israel, and it names no aid programme; it is recorded here because it is the only dated item in which he addresses U.S. military spending abroad in his own words. The post text was read from the blog index page.
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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No recorded votes on the bills we track. In their own words on August 3, 2026.
The money
Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found
In their words
Research log
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
Our research for this card began with a search run on 2026-08-21. Every page cited below was opened and read on 2026-09-07, and his campaign site was read in full, including all 60 posts on his blog and his media page. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. This card replaces an older summary of his record; every quotation in it was checked again at the source. He has no recorded votes on this record and no tracked funding.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
- [Position; the page carries no date and was read on 2026-09-07] His campaign site, under the heading “Stance on the War in Israel”, in two paragraphs: “Every country has the absolute right to defend itself and its people.” “No country has the right to wage genocide. Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians are clearly war crimes, and I believe the United States must cease all economic, political, and military support for Israel until they cease their campaign of violence and aggression.” The two sentences beginning “Every country” and “No country” sit in separate paragraphs on the page and are quoted separately on this card. A June 17, 2026 copy of the same page carries the identical wording, so the statement has been published under his name since at least that date.
- [Position, 2026-07-20] His essay “What Could We Do With a Billion Dollars a Day?”: “We need to talk about the escalating war with Iran. In June, Congress passed a measure directing the president to end the use of armed forces in Iran, yet the United States continues to spend billions of our taxpayer dollars on a war of choice, on a war no one wants.” The piece argues that Congress holds the power of the purse and should use it to end that war and to spend the money at home. It is about Iran and about the defense budget; it names no aid programme and does not mention Israel. It is recorded here because it is the fullest statement in his own words about U.S. military spending abroad.
- [Position, reported 2026-02-10; not confirmed] Our research reports a statement on his campaign Facebook page that “the United States must withhold all financial and military support from Israel until it stops its genocidal campaign, ceases its war crimes, and transfers power over Palestine to the Palestinian Authority”. The only address offered is a post on his campaign page, and it did not open when we tried it on 2026-09-07. The claim is not confirmed and is not on the card. The demand it describes goes further than the one on his site, because it adds a transfer of authority, so it is not treated as a restatement of the site.
- [Position, reported 2026-08-06; not confirmed] Our research reports a campaign video question-and-answer on the same page in which he said that before further military support is provided there “should be a ceasefire, including the release of hostages, long enough to provide food, shelter and healthcare to civilians”, and that the United States “continues to support Israel’s war on Gaza with military and financial aid” without using its leverage to end it. The address did not open when we tried it, and a video is not something we can read. Not confirmed, and not on the card.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- Nothing located. His campaign site, his 60 blog posts, his media page and his Ballotpedia entry carry no statement from him on UNRWA, on humanitarian funding for Gaza or on the aid pipeline. The reported February 2026 Facebook statement mentions transferring authority over Palestine to the Palestinian Authority, which is a governance question rather than an aid one, and it is unconfirmed in any case.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2026-02-01] His essay “From Defense to War: The “America First” Strategy”: “My beliefs are quite simple and align with Americans across the country: every nation has the right to protect its domestic and strategic interests; no country has the right to wage genocide, commit indiscriminate war crimes, or target civilians. Supporting Israel’s current genocide and kidnapping a sitting president violates these beliefs.” Earlier in the same essay, on the shape of U.S. strategy: “We use Israel as our model ally. The U.S. clears the strategic roadblocks that the ally cannot handle alone, and in exchange, our ally spends 5% of its GDP on defense. But what happens when they don’t? What does America First mean then?”
- [Position; undated page read 2026-09-07] His campaign site calls the bombing and killing of civilians “clearly war crimes”, quoted in full above.
- [Position, reported 2026-02-10; not confirmed] Our research reports a Facebook post saying “Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and the West Bank is tantamount to Genocide”. Same address as the item above, which did not open. Not confirmed, and not on the card. His own site and his February 1, 2026 essay say something close to it in wording we could read, and those are the sources used.
- [Position, reported 2026-08-06; not confirmed] Our research reports that in the same video he called the situation in Gaza “unacceptable”, said “the prosecution of the war in Gaza is not making Israel safer” and was instead “creating generational hatred that is more likely to result in additional terrorism than in future peace”, and said that any future military action against Hamas must be “surgical”. Not confirmed, and not on the card.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Position; undated page read 2026-09-07] His campaign site, under the heading “Acceptance of PAC Money”: “No. I do not accept PAC money. This is a grassroots campaign made up of individual donors and volunteers helping do the work.” He names no organization. A pledge about who funds a campaign is not a statement about weapons or money for the government of Israel, and it is not treated as one here.
- [Position, 2025-10-12] His essay “Following the Money”, about his opponent’s campaign finance: “One of his top contributors includes the largest pro-Israel PAC in America. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee PAC has contributed over half a million dollars to Tom Cole.” The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying organization that works to strengthen the U.S. relationship with the government of Israel and, since 2021, has run political committees that give directly to candidates.
- [Position, 2026-08-03] His essay “War Chests vs. We the People”: “American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is Cole’s largest source of contributions. For the 2024 election, Tom Cole accepted $500,000 from AIPAC. It is no surprise that for the 2026 Midterm Election, reports are showing his number one source of campaign contributions is, in fact, AIPAC, and Pro-Israel industries are heavily funding his re-election campaign.” These are his statements about his opponent’s funding, not about what the United States sends, and they are not on the card.
- [Position, reported 2026-02-10; not confirmed] Our research reports that in the same unread Facebook post he pledged: “And let me say this clearly: I will never accept funding from AIPAC”. Not confirmed. His own site’s refusal of political action committee money, quoted above, names no organization, and a general pledge is not converted into a named one here.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not a position on what America sends)
- Nothing located. Neither his campaign site nor any of his 60 blog posts nor his media page carries a statement from him on antisemitism or on the safety of Jewish or Muslim communities.
The race
- [Undated; read 2026-09-07] Ballotpedia: “Incumbent Tom Cole (R), Mitchell Jacob (D), and Rocco Bonacci (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House Oklahoma District 4 on November 3, 2026.” He defeated Jeff Pixley in the Democratic primary on June 16, 2026. He had also filed for Oklahoma House District 20 and did not appear on that primary ballot; his own site says he cancelled that campaign to run federally. He completed Ballotpedia’s candidate survey in 2026, and its answers name education as the most pressing issue facing Oklahoma and say nothing about Israel, Gaza or foreign aid.
- [Undated; read 2026-09-07] His media page carries his campaign biography, last updated June 14, 2026, and two press releases. Neither mentions this question.
Not on the card, and why
- The July 2026 essay on the war in Iran: Iran is a different question from what the United States sends to the government of Israel. It is set out above.
- The two reported Facebook items, from February 10 and August 6, 2026: their addresses did not open for us, so the statements attributed to them are not confirmed. They are described above with what is claimed for them, and they are not quoted or linked. A person who can open them would settle it.
- His refusal of political action committee money: a pledge about donations is not a position on weapons or funding, and he names no organization on his site.
- His two essays about his opponent’s campaign funding: they are about someone else’s money, not about what the United States sends. They are set out above.
- The passage in his February 2026 essay about the kidnapping of a sitting president, and the rest of that essay: out of scope.
- The earlier summary sentence on this record: this card replaces the older summary rather than merging with it. Its quotations were re-checked at the source and two were corrected, as the flags record.
Sources read for this card (address; opened or could not open; date read)
- https://www.mitchelljacob.com/ (opened; 2026-09-07; undated page)
- https://web.archive.org/web/20260617014817/https://www.mitchelljacob.com/ (opened; 2026-09-07; a copy of the page as it stood on 2026-06-17)
- https://www.mitchelljacob.com/blog/from-defense-to-war-the-america-first-strategynbsp (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2026-02-01)
- https://www.mitchelljacob.com/blog/what-could-we-do-with-a-billion-dollars-per-daynbsp (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2026-07-20)
- https://www.mitchelljacob.com/blog/following-the-money (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2025-10-12)
- https://www.mitchelljacob.com/blog/war-chests-vs-we-the-people (opened; 2026-09-07; published 2026-08-03)
- https://www.mitchelljacob.com/blog (opened; 2026-09-07; the index, and all 60 posts listed in the site’s own index of pages were opened and read)
- https://www.mitchelljacob.com/media (opened; 2026-09-07; biography last updated 2026-06-14)
- https://ballotpedia.org/Mitchell_Jacob (opened; 2026-09-07)
- https://ballotpedia.org/Oklahoma%27s_4th_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-07)
- https://www.facebook.com/electmitchelljacob/posts/israels-indiscriminate-bombing-of-gaza-and-the-west-bank-is-tantamount-to-genoci/122231439806138258/ (could not open; 2026-09-07)
- https://www.facebook.com/electmitchelljacob/posts/now-that-youve-officially-secured-the-nomination-how-has-your-campaign-evolved-w/122248477652138258/ (could not open; 2026-09-07)
- https://www.facebook.com/electmitchelljacob is his campaign’s own page, linked from his campaign site, so the account the two posts above sit on is his (opened; 2026-09-07)
- This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-07, not a claim that no other statement exists.
Also in this race
- ✗Supports Tom Cole (Republican)
- –No Position Found Rocco Bonacci (Independent)
All Oklahoma candidates.
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