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

Robert Murray Jr.

Republican · U.S. House, Virginia District 4
✓From their own words
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.

No recorded votes on the bills we track. In their own words on September 18, 2026.

Murray wrote in a September 2026 voter guide that he “celebrated PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent support to end U.S. military aid to Israel, because such aid has fueled antisemitism.” The answer opens: “All nations and humans have a right to self-defense and to seek cooperation from allies.”

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Deep Dive

Robert Murray Jr. is the Republican nominee in Virginia's 4th District, chosen by the party after a caucus in July 2026. He is on the ballot as Robert P. “Family Man” Murray, Jr., and on November 3 he faces Representative Jennifer McClellan and Joan Bell, an independent. He lives in downtown Richmond and describes himself as a “Retired technology entrepreneur and corporate executive turned civil rights activist”. His campaign site says he worked for IBM, and he campaigns on fixing family law. He has not held office.

His position is in his answers to the 2026 candidate questionnaire of VPM News and Virginia's other public media stations, published on September 18, 2026. Asked “What is your stance on the United States’ foreign policy with Israel?”, he wrote: “All nations and humans have a right to self-defense and to seek cooperation from allies. That said, I celebrated PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent support to end U.S. military aid to Israel, because such aid has fueled antisemitism.” The rest of the answer turns to home. It begins “To help others, we must help ourselves.”, names the national debt, the funding shortfalls in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and the country's infrastructure, and says: “It’s past time to restore focus on building this nation instead of others.” In an answer on the cost of living he wrote that the country should modernize its military and harden its infrastructure “once we lower our overseas military expenses and wind down our involvement in overseas conflicts.” His campaign site sets a goal of bringing 20 percent of the U.S. military stationed overseas home by 2032.

The plan he refers to is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's. Jewish Insider reported in May 2026 that Netanyahu had called for winding down U.S. financial aid to the government of Israel over the next decade and said the alliance's future should rest on joint projects funded equally by the two countries. Dan Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, told the outlet that a successor agreement would likely “emphasize joint research and development, sharing technological advances, and expanded co-production”. Under that plan the direct aid would end. Military cooperation between the United States and the government of Israel would continue in another form. Murray has not said whether he supports that joint development and production, and nothing located has him addressing U.S. aid to Palestinians or the war in Gaza.

He has not filled in Ballotpedia's candidate survey. His campaign site and his Bluesky account, which carries six posts from August 2026, do not mention Israel or Gaza. His campaign's X and Facebook accounts could not be read here; their addresses are on his research page.

In their words

“All nations and humans have a right to self-defense and to seek cooperation from allies. That said, I celebrated PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent support to end U.S. military aid to Israel, because such aid has fueled antisemitism.”
Source ↗, 2026-09-18
“It’s past time to restore focus on building this nation instead of others.”
Source ↗, 2026-09-18

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-09-24 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site was read in full: the home page, the Meet Robert page, the Connect page and the donation page, which are all the pages its own site map lists apart from the privacy and terms pages. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. Murray has never held office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks is his, and no funding from the committees this site tracks is recorded on this record.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

  • [Position, 2026-09-18] VPM News' Q&A with the 4th District candidates, by Keyris Manzanares and VPM News, published September 18, 2026, read under the label "Murray:". Asked "What is your stance on the United States’ foreign policy with Israel?", he answered: "All nations and humans have a right to self-defense and to seek cooperation from allies. That said, I celebrated PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent support to end U.S. military aid to Israel, because such aid has fueled antisemitism." The answer goes on: "To help others, we must help ourselves. There are many challenges in the world, but America has its own. We must address our $40,000,000,000,000+ national debt, fix the funding shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, and fortify our nation’s at-risk infrastructure." It describes a "tent city" on Midlothian Turnpike in the district and says: "It’s past time to restore focus on building this nation instead of others." It closes on public health and the cost of living. The page says the questions were put by Virginia's public media stations, VPM, WAMU, WHRO, WMRA and Radio IQ, and that answers "have been lightly edited for style and clarity".
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-24] WVTF's page for him in its 2026 Virginia Voter Guide, credited to VPM News, carries the same questionnaire under his name alone, with the same answer word for word. The page shows no date.
  • [Position, 2026-09-18] In the same questionnaire, answering on affordability, he wrote: "We must invest in modernizing our military and hardening our domestic infrastructure once we lower our overseas military expenses and wind down our involvement in overseas conflicts. This will lower our transportation costs, create high-paying jobs here in Virginia (and across the U.S.), all while better defending our homeland." It names no country.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-24] His campaign site lists among his commitments: "20% Overseas military brought back home by 2032. This keeps more families together, saves lives and better secures our nation." It adds that he "will press to modernize our military, shift operating costs to research, and harden America’s infrastructure". The site also carries the line "Make wealth, not war." None of this names Israel or any other country.
  • [Position, 2026-05-26] What would replace the aid. Jewish Insider's report by Matthew Kassel, published May 26, 2026, says Netanyahu "has called for winding down U.S. financial aid over the next decade" and, in a CBS "60 Minutes" interview that month, noted that "the future of the U.S.-Israel alliance should be focused on joint projects equally funded by Israel and the United States." Both phrases are the reporter's. It quotes Dan Shapiro, a U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Obama: "It will likely phase out FMF, which both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Americans from the left and right are calling for," and "It will likely emphasize joint research and development, sharing technological advances, and expanded co-production to answer President Trump’s question of what’s in it for the United States." It quotes Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli military intelligence chief, calling for "a transition from aid to partnership." This is context for the plan Murray cites, not his words. Nothing located has him addressing joint development, co-production or any other form of U.S. military cooperation with the government of Israel beyond the general line about seeking "cooperation from allies".

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located, at any date. His questionnaire answer on Israel does not mention Gaza, Palestinians or humanitarian aid.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Position, 2026-09-18] The opening sentence of his answer, "All nations and humans have a right to self-defense and to seek cooperation from allies.", is set out above. It names no country, though it opens his answer on Israel. Nothing else located describes the war in Gaza or the conflict in any terms.

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

  • Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or any other advocacy organization on this subject was found.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)

  • [Position, 2026-09-18] His questionnaire answer gives antisemitism as his reason for welcoming the end of U.S. military aid: "because such aid has fueled antisemitism." He does not say more about it, and nothing else located from him addresses antisemitism or the safety of any community.

What his campaign site and own pages say

  • [Undated; read 2026-09-24] His campaign site runs on "Health. Wealth. Respect." Its other commitments are a zero federal individual income tax rate by 2032, giving his congressional income to charities in the district, and an 80 percent approval rating goal. Its sections cover what it calls "Big, Hairy, Bi-Partisan Problems", a list that includes defense, then technology, and civil rights and family law. The Meet Robert page says he grew up in Chesterfield, started an IT company on Richmond's south side, graduated from William & Mary, earned an MBA from Emory, and worked in IBM's federal government consulting practice with clients including the U.S. Air Force and Swedish Customs. It names his partner, whom he describes in the VPM questionnaire as "another candidate for Congress"; nothing of hers is used here. None of the site's pages mentions Israel, Gaza or Palestinians.
  • [Read 2026-09-24] His Bluesky account, linked from his campaign site, carries six posts, from August 15 to 21, 2026: on the Richmond Gun Show, the marriage amendment, phasing out the federal income tax, technology, a question to voters, and an act of violence at Virginia State University. None concerns foreign policy.
  • [Read 2026-09-24] His Ballotpedia page lists him as "Robert Murray Jr. (R)" and says he has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
  • [Position, 2026-09-18] Elsewhere in the VPM questionnaire he says he has "worked in 15 countries", prefers Mike Johnson to Hakeem Jeffries for speaker, opposes all three of Virginia's constitutional amendments, and answers questions on abortion, housing, artificial intelligence, license-plate cameras, data centers, a utility merger and the 2020 election. None of those answers concerns the government of Israel or Gaza.

The race

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

  • 12 On Your Side's interview with him, published September 17, 2026, is a video; it was not watched.
  • His campaign's X account, https://x.com/Vote4RMurray , which returns no readable posts, and its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Murray-for-Congress-VA-04/61593075734582 , linked from his site, of which only the title "Robert Murray for Congress - VA-04" opens.
  • The articles he says he has published on LinkedIn, whose address is not given.
  • WAVY's 2026 voter guide, https://www.wavy.com/november-3-2026-wavy-voter-guide/ , which could not be opened.
  • A Facebook post by another Republican about a 4th District party committee meeting, https://www.facebook.com/ottofordelegate/posts/last-week-i-was-in-petersburg-for-the-fourth-congressional-republican-committee-/1517536833720333/ , which does not open. It is a third party's post in any case.

Not on the card, and why

  • His answers on taxes, abortion, housing, immigration, artificial intelligence, surveillance cameras, data centers, the constitutional amendments and the 2020 election: out of scope, listed above so the shape of his record is checkable.
  • The Jewish Insider report on Netanyahu's plan and the quotations from Dan Shapiro and Amos Yadlin: context for the plan he cites, stated in the deep dive as the outlet's reporting and not as his view.
  • His partner's candidacy and his family-court case: biography, not about what the United States sends.
  • Jennifer McClellan's answer on the same VPM page, and Joan Bell's record: they belong on their own cards.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

  • https://www.vpm.org/elections/2026-09-18/va04-mcclellan-murray-candidate-survey/ (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-09-18, modified 2026-09-18)
  • https://www.wvtf.org/4th-district-candidate-robert-family-man-murray-jr-r (opened; 2026-09-24; no date on the page)
  • https://www.vpm.org/elections/2026-08-05/congress-2026-election-candidates-va01-va04-va05-va07-senate/ (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-08-05)
  • https://jewishinsider.com/2026/05/israel-u-s-funding-memorandum-of-understanding-military-aid/ (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-05-26)
  • https://www.murrayforcongress.com/ (opened; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.murrayforcongress.com/about/ (opened; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.murrayforcongress.com/connect/ and https://www.murrayforcongress.com/donate/ (opened; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.murrayforcongress.com/sitemap.xml (opened; 2026-09-24; the site's own index)
  • https://bsky.app/profile/vote4rmurray.bsky.social (opened; 2026-09-24; six posts)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Robert_Murray_Jr._(Virginia) (opened; 2026-09-24)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_4th_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.elections.virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot/candidate-list/november-3-2026-gen-elect-federal-offices/ (opened; 2026-09-24)
  • https://virginiamercury.com/voter-guides/contests/2026-general-election-4th-congressional-district/ (opened; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.wtvr.com/news/virginia-politics/voter-guide (opened; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.12onyourside.com/2026/09/17/meet-candidates-4th-district-republican-candidate-robert-murray/ (opened; 2026-09-24; published 2026-09-17; video not watched)
  • https://x.com/Vote4RMurray (opened, no readable posts; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Murray-for-Congress-VA-04/61593075734582 (title only; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.wavy.com/november-3-2026-wavy-voter-guide/ (could not open; 2026-09-24)
  • https://www.facebook.com/ottofordelegate/posts/last-week-i-was-in-petersburg-for-the-fourth-congressional-republican-committee-/1517536833720333/ (could not open; 2026-09-24)
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-24, not a claim that no other statement exists.

Also in this race

  1. ? Jennifer McClellan (Democrat)
  2. – Joan Bell (Independent)

All Virginia 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.