But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Ray Bilger
Democrat · U.S. House, Pennsylvania District 15
?Mixed
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: His platform's position is conditions on military aid, backed by a named bill, alongside a pledge to be a true ally to Israel, and the genocide references are his page's citations of other bodies rather than his own word. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Bilger's platform says "military aid must be conditioned on compliance with the laws of war and the terms of the ceasefire," and "America can be a true ally to Israel and a champion of Palestinian rights at the same time. I will fight for both."
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Bilger is the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's 15th District, with a background in military intelligence and the defence sector.
His campaign priorities page is one of the most carefully argued statements we have read, and it names its own evidence. On the ceasefire that took effect in October 2025: "A ceasefire took effect in October 2025 and all hostages have been returned. But the ceasefire is not peace. More than 700 Palestinians have been killed since it began. Israel now controls 70% of Gaza's territory. Nearly 2.1 million people remain displaced. 77% of Gaza's population faces acute food insecurity. This is not an end to the conflict, it is a pause in it, with the underlying conditions unresolved."
Then the position: "America has leverage, and a moral obligation to use it. Military aid must be conditioned on compliance with the laws of war and the terms of the ceasefire. I support the Ceasefire Compliance Act."
And the frame he puts around it: "America can be a true ally to Israel and a champion of Palestinian rights at the same time. I will fight for both."
The same page says he "will not look away from what the world's leading human rights institutions have documented," It also condemns the October 7 attack, describes Hamas as a designated terrorist organisation whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, and cites findings from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Court of Justice and a United Nations commission of inquiry.
He has no federal voting record.
The money
Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found
2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
In their words
“Military aid must be conditioned on compliance with the laws of war and the terms of the ceasefire. I support the Ceasefire Compliance Act.”
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
[Position, read 2026-08-12] His campaign priorities page, opened and confirmed word for word: "America has leverage, and a moral obligation to use it. Military aid must be conditioned on compliance with the laws of war and the terms of the ceasefire. I support the Ceasefire Compliance Act. America can be a true ally to Israel and a champion of Palestinian rights at the same time. I will fight for both." A live page with no publication date, so read-date. It names a specific bill, which is rare on a challenger's record.
[Position, 2026-07-30, reported] At a campaign event in McKean County, drawing on his military intelligence background, he addressed U.S.-Israel security cooperation and said "it would be a grave mistake to work with any other country where all intelligence is shared" (The Bradford Era). Not opened; the sentence is ambiguous out of context and is not quoted on the card.
He has no federal voting record.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
[Position, read 2026-08-12] The ceasefire passage above cites food insecurity and displacement figures as the basis for using U.S. leverage (confirmed verbatim). No separate position on U.S. humanitarian funding was located.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, read 2026-08-12] Confirmed verbatim: "A ceasefire took effect in October 2025 and all hostages have been returned. But the ceasefire is not peace. More than 700 Palestinians have been killed since it began. Israel now controls 70% of Gaza's territory. Nearly 2.1 million people remain displaced. 77% of Gaza's population faces acute food insecurity. This is not an end to the conflict, it is a pause in it, with the underlying conditions unresolved." And: "I will not look away from what the world's leading human rights institutions have documented."
Note the figures are his page's, and this record does not adopt or check them; they are quoted as his stated basis.
[Position, read 2026-08-12, reported] The same page condemns the October 7 attack, giving approximately 1,200 killed including 44 Americans and 253 hostages taken, describes Hamas as a designated terrorist organisation whose founding charter calls for Israel's destruction, and states that "Israel has the right to defend itself" while criticising the conduct of the campaign in Gaza. It cites determinations by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the International Court of Justice's finding of a plausible risk of genocide, and a September 2025 UN Human Rights Council commission of inquiry report. **Those citations are his page's attributions to those bodies, not his own unmediated characterization**, and the card does not convert them into his own word.
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.
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