But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Madeleine Dean
Dean voted yes in July 2026 and said why in seven words: "Not another dime to the Netanyahu government." She called the amendment "flawed" and voted for it anyway, saying Netanyahu's prosecution of the war "has not made Israel safer."
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You asked Madeleine Dean where they stand.
Deep Dive
Dean has represented Pennsylvania's 4th District since 2019.
Her July 2026 statement is unusually direct about both the vote and its instrument: "That is why today I voted 'yes' on Congressman Massie's flawed amendment, to make clear from me: Not another dime to the Netanyahu government."
She set the alliance beside it rather than against it: "Israel is a friend and ally of the United States, and I have prized my opportunities to visit and get to know her people. But Netanyahu's prosecution of this war has not made Israel safer. It has not brought stability to the Middle East. And it has not lived up to our American ideals or international law."
Two years earlier she had voted the other way on a different bill, and explained that too. In April 2024 she supported the security package, noting that she strongly disagreed with Netanyahu's execution of the war while more than half the Israel funding went to defensive systems and to replenishing American stocks, alongside $9.5 billion in global humanitarian assistance.
In December 2024 she co-led a letter with Reps. Jason Crow and Chrissy Houlahan, signed by 77 House Democrats, asking for a full assessment of Israel's compliance with U.S. arms transfer law.
After a second trip to Israel and the West Bank in February 2024 she called for a bilateral ceasefire and said the military operation had gone beyond self-defence. In September 2025 she called for an end to what she described as a man-made famine in Gaza.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 6 tracked votes · Cosponsors the Block the Bombs Act
House Committee on Appropriations · House Committee on Foreign Affairs
• 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 some, but no more than half, of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 6 tracked votes.)
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.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- [Position, 2026-07-15] Her statement on supporting the Massie amendment, opened and confirmed word for word: "That is why today I voted 'yes' on Congressman Massie's flawed amendment - to make clear from me: Not another dime to the Netanyahu government. Israel is a friend and ally of the United States, and I have prized my opportunities to visit and get to know her people. But Netanyahu's prosecution of this war has not made Israel safer. It has not brought stability to the Middle East. And it has not lived up to our American ideals or international law." The passage begins by referring to Israeli operations "in Gaza and the West Bank, on innocent Palestinians, so many of them children."
Note she calls the amendment "flawed" and votes for it regardless. That is the same shape as nc2-ross, who called it "poorly written and overly broad" and also voted yes, and the card keeps the qualifier because dropping it would make her sound less deliberate than she is.
- [Position, 2024-04-20] Her statement supporting the security funding package, opened. Per the research she noted that she strongly disagreed with Netanyahu's execution of the war while more than half the Israel funding was for defensive systems such as Iron Dome and for replenishing U.S. weapon stocks, alongside $9.5 billion in global humanitarian assistance. Recorded as the research's summary; no verbatim span is quoted from it here.
- [Position, 2024-12-12] Co-led a letter with Reps. Jason Crow and Chrissy Houlahan, signed by 77 House Democrats, to the Secretaries of State and Defense requesting a full assessment of Israel's compliance with U.S. arms transfer law, including National Security Memorandum 20 and Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act (Jewish Insider, Common Dreams). A 77-signatory letter, so no individual quote is drawn from it. Not opened. Note pa6-houlahan co-led it with her.
- Her recorded votes appear as badges on this card and are not uniform. The two statements above are her own explanations of the two that moved in opposite directions.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2025-09-04] Called on the House floor for an end to the "man-made famine in Gaza". Not opened.
- [Position, 2024-04-20] Cited the package's $9.5 billion in global humanitarian assistance as part of her reason for supporting it (per the research).
- [Position, 2025-10-07, reported] Called for an influx of humanitarian aid to Gaza alongside a ceasefire and the return of hostages.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2024-02-28] After a second trip to Israel and the West Bank, opened;, as reported she called for a bilateral ceasefire, said the military operation had gone "beyond self-defense," described it as a "war against civilians," and accused Netanyahu of dishonesty about precision strikes and safe zones. Also covered by the Inquirer. No verbatim span is quoted here; the release was opened but the research's phrases were not individually confirmed.
- [Position, 2026-07-15] Israeli operations "in Gaza and the West Bank, on innocent Palestinians, so many of them children" (confirmed verbatim, above).
- [Position, 2025-10-07, reported] Condemned Hamas's "brutal and barbaric" assault on the second anniversary, and called for a long-term autonomous Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank as part of a two-state solution.
- [Position, 2025-12-10, reported] At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing decried "unprecedented settler expansion" and "rising settler violence" in the West Bank.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Prior, 2023-07-18, reported] Said House Republican leadership was using Israel and the Jewish community as a "political football." Before 2023-10-07, so prior band.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Prior, 2023-07-18, reported] Condemned antisemitism and affirmed the necessity of a safe haven for the Jewish people. Prior band; safety context, never an answer about U.S. weapons or funding.
Also in this race
- –No Position Found Aurora Stuski (Republican)
All Pennsylvania candidates.
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