But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Greg Abbott

Republican · Governor, Texas
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When a Texas city council weighed a resolution calling for an arms embargo on the government of Israel, Abbott threatened to terminate the city's state grants: "Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies." He signed the state law barring contracts with companies that boycott Israel.

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Deep Dive

Abbott has been governor of Texas since 2015 and is running again. He casts no vote on U.S. weapons or U.S. money, so his record runs through the levers a governor does hold: procurement, investment, state grants, universities and trade.

He has used those levers against a call for an arms embargo. In April 2025 the city council of San Marcos was due to discuss a resolution calling for a ceasefire, an arms embargo on Israel and recognition of Palestinian sovereignty. He wrote to the city and said his office would immediately terminate all active grants not in compliance with state law if the resolution passed. The letter's own words: "Israel is a stalwart ally of the United States and a friend to Texas," and "I have repeatedly made clear that Texas will not tolerate antisemitism. Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies."

The law he was invoking is his own. In May 2017 he signed House Bill 89 at the Jewish Community Center in Austin, barring every state agency from contracting with companies that boycott Israel and keeping certain public funds from investing in them, saying: "As Israel's number one trading partner in the United States, Texas is proud to reaffirm its support for the people of Israel and we will continue to build on our historic partnership." That law reaches contracts and investments made with Texas money, not with federal money.

He has also written the same posture into state universities. In March 2024 he ordered public colleges to add a standard definition of antisemitism to their free speech policies and to discipline students who breach it, and the order names two Palestinian student organizations for review. Nothing located has him taking a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on aid to Palestinians.

The record

Notable actions

• May 2, 2017: Signed House Bill 89 (the anti-boycott bill) into law at the Jewish Community Center in Austin on Israel's Independence Day, prohibiting all Texas state agencies from contracting with, and certain public funds from investing in, companies that boycott Israel.

• October 9, 2023: Issued Executive Order GA-43 directing all Texas state agencies to refrain from purchasing goods produced in or exported from the Gaza Strip and from any organization or state actor tied to Hamas, and expedited over $4 million in security grants to 31 Jewish organizations.

• November 2, 2023: Traveled to Israel on a self-described solidarity mission with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, meeting Israeli officials and visiting victims of the October 7 attack; his office released a photo of the governors with Prime Minister Netanyahu (per the Texas Tribune). It was his third trip to Israel as governor.

• November 2025-January 2026: Texas, under Gov. Abbott's Economic Development and Tourism office, issued a Request for Proposals to establish and operate a State of Texas Israel Office in Jerusalem (submissions due January 6, 2026), with an award decision expected in January 2026 (reported by Israel Hayom).

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.

Reviewed by hand after the two reviewers read it differently: He threatened a Texas city's state grants over a resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel, writing that government entities may not support efforts to sanction Israel, which opposes that limit. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

In their words

“As Israel's number one trading partner in the United States, Texas is proud to reaffirm its support for the people of Israel and we will continue to build on our historic partnership. Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally.”
Source ↗, 2017-05-02
“I have repeatedly made clear that Texas will not tolerate antisemitism. Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies.”
Source ↗, 2025-04-29

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 on federal transfers. A governor has no authority over U.S. weapons or U.S. military funding, and our research through August 2026 found no statement from him about either.
  • [Position, 2025-04-29] The nearest thing, and it is not a federal position: he wrote to the City of San Marcos over a resolution its council was to discuss, saying his office was reviewing the city's active grants and would terminate all those not in compliance with state law if the resolution was adopted. His letter, read and confirmed word for word: "Israel is a stalwart ally of the United States and a friend to Texas," and "I have repeatedly made clear that Texas will not tolerate antisemitism. Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies," and "I have proudly signed legislation prohibiting government entities from supporting efforts to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel. That remains the law here." What the resolution asked for is set out by the Houston Chronicle, also read and confirmed: "a possible resolution calling for the immediate and permanent ceasefire in occupied Palestine, an arms embargo on Israel, recognition of Palestinian sovereignty, and the protection of constitutional rights for all people under national and international law." Two limits: the leverage he used is state grant money, not anything federal; and his letter treats the resolution as an antisemitism and anti-boycott question rather than answering the embargo on its merits.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located from him on U.S. funding for Palestinians, in either direction.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-09] Executive Order GA-43 directed Texas state agencies not to purchase goods produced in or exported from the Gaza Strip, or from any organization or state actor tied to Hamas (order announcement). This is state procurement, not U.S. aid. Not on the card summary: dated inside the reaction window.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-09] Statement condemning the attack, confirmed word for word: "I firmly denounce the act of war against Israeli citizens and Americans in Israel and support Israel’s right to defend itself from these barbaric attacks." The same release announced more than four million dollars in state security grants to Jewish organizations in Texas. Not on the card summary.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-20] Directed the state education agency to distribute classroom material on the war (release). Not on the card summary.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-11-02] Statement on arriving in Israel with the governor of Oklahoma, confirmed word for word: "Texas stands ready to offer our complete and total support to Israel in their fight against brutal terrorist organizations like Hamas." Independently covered by the Texas Tribune, which records that his office released a photograph of the two governors with the Israeli prime minister and that it was his third trip there as governor. Not on the card summary.
  • [Position, 2024-10-07] Remarks at a memorial service in Dallas (release) and [Position, 2025-10-05] at a remembrance ceremony in Houston (release). Both fall outside the reaction window but both are anniversary events whose wording is anchored to the date, so they are kept out of the card summary and recorded here.

State action

  • [Prior, 2017-05-02] Signed House Bill 89 at the Jewish Community Center in Austin, barring Texas state agencies from contracting with, and certain public funds from investing in, companies that boycott Israel (release). His quoted words there, confirmed word for word: "As Israel's number one trading partner in the United States, Texas is proud to reaffirm its support for the people of Israel and we will continue to build on our historic partnership. Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally." Texas was not the first state to pass such a law; South Carolina was, two years earlier. Corroborated by the Times of Israel.
  • [Position, 2026-01-14 as reported] Texas issued a request for proposals to establish and operate a State of Texas office in Jerusalem under the governor's economic development and tourism office, bids due at the start of January 2026, a decision expected that month (Israel Hayom). The band date is the date of the report. This record does not say whether the office opened.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • No endorsement located from any advocacy group this site tracks.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

  • [Position, 2024-03-27] Executive Order GA-44, ordering public colleges and universities to write a standard definition of antisemitism into their free speech policies and to establish discipline, including expulsion, for breaches (his release). The Texas Tribune reports that the order names two Palestinian student organizations for review.
  • [Position, 2024-09-12] Letter to Texas public colleges and universities urging enforcement of anti-discrimination policy (his release).
  • The state security grants to Jewish organizations are set out above with the release that announced them, and are not on the card summary for the reason given there.

Race and status context

Also in this race

  1. – Gina Hinojosa (Democrat)
  2. – Jenn Mack (write-in) (Independent)
  3. ? Pat Dixon (Libertarian)

All Texas candidates.

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.