Josh Shapiro
Shapiro would not cut U.S. military aid to the government of Israel and backs assistance like Iron Dome, but says presidents have failed to use that aid as leverage to limit civilian deaths. He wants the war ended and has refused to call for a unilateral ceasefire.
Shapiro is Pennsylvania's governor, seeking a second term, and was the state's attorney general before that. He is one of the most closely watched Democratic voices on this subject, and his position has moved.
He has said where he stands on the money. Asked in April 2026 about calls to end American aid, including for missile defense, he declined to go there and said the assistance serves American interests: "In the case of Israel, you have a country that is constantly being attacked with missiles and other weapons that put civilians at risk, and America is invested in providing assistance like Iron Dome to protect innocent civilians from those terrorist attacks," and "I think that is in America's national security interest." In the same interview he said the pressure should be applied rather than withdrawn: two presidents "have failed to use the leverage of an American president to force Israel's hands to use that military aid in ways that comport with our American values, to limit the loss of innocent lives as the key factor there."
On the conduct of the war he has been blunter each year. Speaking to the Forward in September 2025 he set out what he thinks right looks like: "I focus on doing what I think is right. And what I think is right is to have these hostages return home, have the war end, have the people of Gaza be able to live with food and shelter and health care and dignity, and to hopefully one day be in a position where a two-state solution can be a possibility." Of the Israeli prime minister he said he was "concerned that he is placing Israel in greater danger because of his conduct". He has still declined to call for a unilateral ceasefire, which is the line he has held throughout.
On aid to Palestinians he has asked Washington to do more. In August 2025 he said the United States has "a moral responsibility to flood the zone with aid" and to get food and medicine to children in Gaza. On his own ground he has moved the other way on boycotts: as attorney general he pressed state agencies to enforce Pennsylvania's anti-boycott law against Ben and Jerry's parent company, and as governor his office said he would sign a bill penalizing public colleges that boycott or divest from Israel.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- [Position, 2026-04-23] Interview with Jewish Insider, read and confirmed word for word, dated on the page. Asked about calls from progressive lawmakers and an advocacy group to end U.S. aid including funding for missile defense, he declined to endorse that position and said: "In the case of Israel, you have a country that is constantly being attacked with missiles and other weapons that put civilians at risk, and America is invested in providing assistance like Iron Dome to protect innocent civilians from those terrorist attacks," and "I think that is in America's national security interest." On leverage: "I would say that our last two presidents, President Biden and now President Trump, have failed to use the leverage of an American president to force Israel's hands to use that military aid in ways that comport with our American values, to limit the loss of innocent lives as the key factor there," and "What we need is an American president who's going to use the leverage that we have when we provide that kind of assistance to Israel or any one of the other 90-plus countries." The first of those spans carries the article's own square brackets around the presidents' first names; the version quoted here starts after them so that nothing is edited inside quotation marks. Direction named: for continued U.S. assistance, against ending it, and for conditions applied by the president rather than by Congress cutting it off.
- This is the position the earlier pass recorded as absent. It was located by the fresh research round.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2025-08-06] He called on the United States to do more for civilians in Gaza, telling WITF that the country "has a moral responsibility to flood the zone with aid and make sure those children that need to be fed get the food and the nourishment and the medicines that they need to be able to survive this." Confirmed against the page. The same report records him noting that Hamas intercepts aid and still holds hostages.
- [Position, 2025-09-17] In the Forward interview he said what he thinks is right includes having "the people of Gaza be able to live with food and shelter and health care and dignity".
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2025-09-17] Same interview, on the Israeli prime minister: "I am concerned that he is placing Israel in greater danger because of his conduct." The same reporting records him calling Israel's rejection of Gaza hunger reports abhorrent and wrong, and records that he continues to refuse calls for a unilateral ceasefire.
- [Position, 2025-09-17] Also from that interview, two spans the article separates with its own attribution and which are therefore kept apart here. First: "I don't waffle or waver because of what the polling said". Then, in one continuous passage: "I focus on doing what I think is right. And what I think is right is to have these hostages return home, have the war end, have the people of Gaza be able to live with food and shelter and health care and dignity, and to hopefully one day be in a position where a two-state solution can be a possibility. I recognize we are a long way from there. But those views have been cemented by years of having a relationship with Israel, and visiting Israel, not by the momentary blip of a political poll." Both checked character-exact against the page.
- [Position, 2026-04-23] From the Jewish Insider interview: "I've always been really clear that I have a love for Israel, even while I have real concern about the leadership of Israel."
- [Position, 2026-03-16] A fresh search records podcast interviews in which he argued that any discussion has to start from Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state and reiterated support for an eventual two-state solution, reported by Jewish Insider.
- [Prior, 1993, resurfaced 2024-08-03] An opinion piece he wrote as a student, skeptical of the Oslo accords, resurfaced during his vice-presidential vetting; his spokesperson said his views had changed over thirty years and that he supports a two-state solution (Times of Israel, WHYY). Thirty-three years old and disavowed; recorded here and not on the card.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-18] At a Pennsylvania Jewish Legislative Caucus event, per his office's release: "I'm proud to join the Jewish Legislative Caucus, and this bipartisan group of legislators here today, to show that even in these polarized times, Pennsylvania's elected leaders are united in supporting Israel and standing against terror." Off the card (C1): dated inside the reaction window.
State action
- [Prior, 2021-07-21] As attorney general he said he expected state agencies with jurisdiction to enforce Pennsylvania's anti-boycott law after Ben and Jerry's announced it would stop sales in Israeli-occupied territory. The statement was made on his office's social media account; a Jewish federation newsletter records it and links the original post. Nothing from it is quoted here because the original could not be read at its own address.
- [Position, 2024-06-21] His office said he supports and would sign a bill penalizing public colleges and universities in Pennsylvania that boycott or divest from Israel, reported by WHYY. A spokesperson's words, not his own, and recorded as such.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Position, 2026-05-27] He argued that hostility directed at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is being turned into a general attack on Jewish participation in politics, calling that "weaponization" "a problem in our system", while saying he does not agree with every decision the group makes (Washington Examiner).
- His posture on this subject and his criticism of campus protests drew scrutiny during his vetting as a possible vice-presidential nominee in 2024. Context, not a position on what America sends.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Reaction window, 2023-12-04] Condemned a protest outside a Jewish-owned restaurant in Philadelphia as an act of antisemitism (Associated Press). Off the card (C1).
- [Position, 2024-05-09] Called on the University of Pennsylvania to disband a protest encampment, saying the situation had become unstable (Washington Examiner). In April 2024 he had compared protesters who go unchecked to white supremacists, and he later wrote that he refused to apologize for that comparison when asked about it during vice-presidential vetting.
- [Position, 2024-05-14] His administration updated the code of conduct for state executive employees, reported by Spotlight PA.
- [Position, 2025-08-22] Appointed an observer to the University of Pennsylvania's trustees to monitor its handling of antisemitism, reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Race and status context
- Incumbent governor facing the state treasurer, per Ballotpedia's race page and his profile. His opponent has her own card in this batch and her record is not used here.
- As governor he casts no vote on federal aid, so everything above is what he has said and what he has done with state authority.
Also in this race: Stacy Garrity (Republican) · All Pennsylvania candidates.
See the full record →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 the interactive card for votes, funding and contact details.