But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Alan Wilson
Wilson, South Carolina's attorney general, co-led a letter from twenty-six states asking Congress to end U.S. funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees: "the United States should not be funding terrorism". He has not been located on U.S. weapons for the government of Israel.
The email has replies@butwhatcanyoudo.org in cc, so we can post their answer on their page in their own words; remove it if you prefer. Keep the subject line as it is, add your name, and send.
You asked Alan Wilson where they stand.
Deep Dive
Wilson has been South Carolina's attorney general since 2011 and is the Republican nominee for governor. The office is a state legal one, so most of his record here is state action, but the multi-state letter has taken him onto federal ground more than once.
In February 2024 he co-led a letter from twenty-six states to congressional leadership calling for an end to U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, over what the states said were the agency's ties to terrorism. His own words on it: "This is just common sense; the United States should not be funding terrorism, but that's exactly what's been happening." Direction named: against that channel of U.S. money to Palestinians.
His most forceful state action came in January 2026, when he sent letters demanding financial and operational documents from six nonprofits operating in South Carolina, naming among them Islamic Relief USA, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Heal Palestine, the Hope Foundation of Palestine, the Islamic Circle of North America Relief and the Carolina Peace Resource Center. He cited a section of the state's nonprofit code and said the organizations were potentially linked to support for Hamas: "We have been steadfast in our support of Israel as it defends itself." These are document demands, not findings; no outcome is recorded.
He has taken the same side elsewhere. In October 2024 he co-led a letter signed by attorneys general from twenty-five states commending Columbia University for refusing to divest from Israel, and a voter guide asked him about the American relationship with the government of Israel and he answered that it is critically important and that the United States should stand firmly with Israel. On U.S. weapons specifically, nothing was located from him, which is consistent with an office that has no say in it.
The record
• On January 22, 2026, as Attorney General, sent letters demanding financial and operational documents from six nonprofits operating in South Carolina (The Hope Foundation of Palestine, Islamic Relief USA, Carolina Peace Resource Center, Islamic Circle of North America Relief, Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Heal Palestine), citing S.C. Code section 33-31-171 and potential links to support for Hamas.
• On October 23, 2024, co-led (with Arkansas AG Tim Griffin) a 25-state coalition letter to Columbia University commending its refusal to divest from Israel and urging it to maintain that stance.
• In spring 2024 traveled to Israel and met families and victims of the October 7, 2023 Nova music festival attack, then in September 2024 co-hosted a South Carolina campus-antisemitism summit with the Israeli Consul General's office and the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: In a January 2026 news release from his office he says "We have been steadfast in our support of Israel as it defends itself", with nothing pointing the other way. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
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
- Nothing located from him. No statement was found on U.S. weapons, U.S. military funding, conditioning that aid, or blocking an arms sale, in this record or in a fresh search of the open record in August 2026. His office has no authority over any of it.
- [Position, read 2026-08-18] The iVoterGuide questionnaire for his race asks "Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?" He answered: "Our relationship with Israel is critically important. Israel is a key ally, a democracy in a volatile region, and a partner in the fight against terrorism. We should stand firmly with Israel." Read and confirmed. It is a statement about the relationship rather than about weapons or appropriations, and it is not read as more than that.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2024-02-01] Co-led a letter from twenty-six states to congressional leadership calling for an end to U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, over ties the states alleged between the agency and terrorism. His office's release, read and confirmed, is dated February 1, 2024 on the page and quotes him: "This is just common sense; the United States should not be funding terrorism, but that's exactly what's been happening," and "And what's even more unbelievable is that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency doesn't consider Hamas a terrorist group." At first we had this document only under another candidate's record. A later search found it under his own office's address, and it is now the card's lead.
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2026-01-22] In his document-demand release, confirmed word for word: "Since October 7, 2023, we have seen a disturbing amount of support for Hamas and affiliated terrorist organizations." and "The attack against Israel at the Nova festival was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust." and "We have been steadfast in our support of Israel as it defends itself."
- [Prior, 2014-08-06] An opinion piece published by his office headed "South Carolina Stands with Israel", dated on the page, from an earlier round of fighting. It describes Israel as a democracy in a volatile region and sets out his account of the Iran divestment and contracting legislation he worked on with state legislators.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-12] Joined a statement of twenty-five attorneys general condemning the attacks (release). Not on the card summary, and a collective document besides.
State legal and policy action
- [Position, 2026-01-22] Letters to six nonprofits operating in South Carolina (The Hope Foundation of Palestine, Islamic Relief USA, Carolina Peace Resource Center, Islamic Circle of North America Relief, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Heal Palestine) demanding financial and operational documents, citing S.C. Code section 33-31-171 and potential links to support for Hamas. Same release. Document demands only; no finding and no further action is recorded.
- [Position, 2024-09-23] Joined a brief from twenty-two states under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act supporting a suit by victims against two Palestinian advocacy organizations, dated on the page.
- [Position, 2024-10-23] Co-led, with Arkansas's attorney general, a letter from twenty-five states to Columbia University commending its refusal to divest from Israel and urging it to maintain that position. His own line on the page, confirmed: "I visited Israel a few months ago, talked to people who lost family members to the horrific October 7th Hamas attacks, and visited some of the locations where people were kidnapped or killed." A collective letter supports collective wording only.
- [Position, 2024-09-09] Co-hosted a campus antisemitism summit with the Israeli Consul General's office and the Combat Antisemitism Movement (release), which also records a trip he made to Israel that spring.
- [Earlier record, 2015] South Carolina barred public entities from contracting with companies that boycott Israel, the first state in the country to do so (Jerusalem Post, which is behind a subscriber wall and gave up only its opening). Two limits, both from this record's own checking: the article does not carry the bill number the summary attaches to it, and it does not say the attorney general's office enforces the law. The summary's claim that Wilson is the enforcement authority is therefore unsupported by the only source cited for it, and no enforcement action by him under it was located.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Position, 2025-06-11] Led a letter from twenty-nine states to federal law enforcement leadership asking for a joint task force on antisemitic domestic terrorism, dated on the page.
- [Position, 2025-03-17] Led a fifteen-state coalition backing a federal task force on antisemitism.
- No endorsement located from any advocacy group this site tracks, on either side.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- The September 2024 summit, the October 2024 Columbia letter and the two 2025 coalitions are all campus and hate-crime items and are set out above rather than repeated here.
Race and status context
- Attorney general of South Carolina since 2011; Republican nominee for governor after winning the primary runoff (SC Daily Gazette, Ballotpedia's race page).
- He did not serve in Congress during any of the tracked votes.
Also in this race
- ?Mixed Jermaine Johnson (Democrat)
- ?Mixed Walid Hakim (Green)
- ?Mixed Michael Addison (Other)
All South Carolina candidates.
See everyone on the South Carolina ballot →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 Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.