But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Jake Ellzey
- Backed with $25K by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (lifetime)
- Endorsed by AIPAC
- Sits on House Appropriations
Ellzey welcomed 2025 defence appropriations funding for Israeli cooperative missile defence, U.S. and Israeli anti-tunnelling work and counter-drone cooperation. In 2022 he called Israel "our strongest supporter and ally in the Middle East".
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Deep Dive
Ellzey represents Texas’s 6th District, is a retired Navy pilot, and is running for re-election.
His current-position act on what America sends is appropriations. In a statement of June 28, 2024 on the FY2025 defence appropriations act, an initial search reports he highlighted provisions funding Israeli Cooperative Missile Defense Programs, U.S. and Israeli anti-tunnelling cooperation, and counter-unmanned aerial systems and directed energy cooperation. That is U.S. money for joint defence programmes rather than a grant, and the card describes it as funding for those programmes.
His earlier statements are strongly supportive. In December 2022, meeting Israeli Air Force pilots with the MACH 1 Caucus, he said "Israel is our strongest supporter and ally in the Middle East, and we must do all that we can to support them". In April 2021 he called Israel "our strongest supporter and constant ally in the fight against terrorism" and said "We can’t turn our back on them now". Both predate October 2023, so the card carries the 2022 line as dated history.
He has said nothing located about U.S. aid to Palestinians. His recorded votes and his funding from pro-Israel committees are shown separately on this card.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 6 of 6 tracked votes
House Committee on Appropriations
• 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.
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Voted to send weapons or funding in more than half of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 6 of 6 tracked votes.)
The money
$25K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
In their words
AIPAC (2026 endorsement)
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
- 2024-06-28 [Current position]: Statement on the FY2025 National Defense Appropriations Act, in which an initial search reports he highlighted provisions funding Israeli Cooperative Missile Defense Programs, U.S. and Israeli anti-tunnelling cooperation, and counter-unmanned aerial systems and directed energy cooperation. Not opened; it is his own House permalink and it is the card's lead, so it is worth confirming.
- 2023-11-08 [Months after October 7, 2023; on this page only]: He co-signed a MACH 1 Caucus letter to Secretary of Defense Austin, published 2023-11-09, urging the administration to expedite delivery of KC-46A Pegasus aerial refuelling tankers to Israel to bolster the Israeli Air Force. **His most specific ask about what the United States sends**, and in the months after October 7, 2023. Note that Rep. Pfluger's excluded item is the same aircraft in the same period, from the other direction (NDAA provisions rather than a letter).
- 2022-12-02 [Earlier record; card-closing as history]: With the MACH 1 Caucus he said "Israel is our strongest supporter and ally in the Middle East, and we must do all that we can to support them", saying the U.S. must ensure Israel remains a secure "beacon of hope" (his statement).
- 2021-04-11 [Earlier record]: He called Israel "our strongest supporter and constant ally in the fight against terrorism" and a critical defence partner: "We can't turn our back on them now."
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- Nothing located, in either direction.
Characterization of the conflict
- 2023-10-07 [Months after October 7, 2023; on this page only]: Statement on the invasion: "The United States must support Israel as it repulses and retaliates against the forces of Hamas and the Mullahs in Iran who pull their strings. The government of Israel has the duty to defend its citizens and take whatever actions are necessary to eliminate Hamas' ability to terrorize and slaughter innocent civilians."
- 2023-11-08 [Months after October 7, 2023]: In the same MACH 1 letter he described the attack as a "horrific terrorist attack by Hamas" and highlighted threats from Hizballah in Lebanon and Iranian-backed proxies in Syria.
Rhetoric and lobbying
- 2022-12-02 [Earlier record]: He met twelve Israeli Air Force pilots with the MACH 1 Caucus through the Jewish Institute for National Security of America's U.S.-Israel Military Leaders Program.
- 2023-10-25 [Months after October 7, 2023]: He said he joined House leadership in taking a "decisive step by reiterating and solidifying our unwavering support for Israel".
- 2023-11-15 [Months after October 7, 2023]: He joined a congressional letter to the U.S. Ambassador to the UN denouncing the UN Secretary-General over comments on the attacks, saying it is "unconscionable to blame Israel for Hamas' brutal reign over the people in Gaza". Carried on another member's site, with the letter PDF attached.
- 2026-01-29 [Current position]: He travelled to Jerusalem on a congressional delegation organised by AIPAC and met Prime Minister Netanyahu (JNS).
Safety and antisemitism
[Context only, never the answer to what America sends. Immigration measures are named out of scope by the content rule.]
- 2023-10-18 [Months after October 7, 2023; out of scope]: He co-sponsored House Resolution 796 condemning foreign nationals in the U.S. who supported foreign terrorist organisations, rejecting antisemitism and calling for enforcement of visa revocation laws. A bill record is among the sources.
- 2024-01-27 [Current position]: He co-sponsored the bipartisan Forgotten Heroes of the Holocaust Congressional Gold Medal Act, H.R. 5399, honouring diplomats who protected Jewish families during the Holocaust (Rep. Salazar's release, listed twice). Carried on another member's site.
Consulted and unusable
- ⚠ One source found is a Facebook post from Rep. Joe Morelle's account about voting for a resolution reaffirming support for Israel. It would not open, it is a different member's post, and that member has his own card in this same group. Nothing here rests on it.
- One Facebook video on his own page carries no retrievable text.
What came back empty or unusable
- No position located on U.S. aid to Palestinians.
- Four of twelve sources are other members' releases or posts, and two are duplicates.
- His card-leading appropriations statement was not opened.
Also in this race
- ✓Opposes Danny Minton (Democrat)
All Texas candidates.
See everyone on the Texas 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.