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

Becca Balint

Democrat · U.S. House, Vermont District 1
?Supported sending weapons or funding in 1 of 6 tracked votes

Balint voted against every aid bill and for the 2026 cut, writing in April 2024: “I will vote ‘no’ on sending more offensive weapons and dollars to Israel” while backing defensive tools. In September 2025 she wrote: “I believe the Israeli government is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people.”

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Deep Dive

Balint has represented Vermont’s at-large district since 2023 and is among the House’s most prominent Jewish critics of the war. Her six recorded votes appear as badges on this card: No on each of the four bills sending military aid, No on the amendment cutting joint missile-defense funding, Yes on the 2026 amendment cutting $3.3 billion in security assistance.

Her April 2024 statement holds the full frame: "To give the Netanyahu government more offensive weapons at this stage is to condone the utter destruction of Gaza", paired with "I’m a lifelong supporter of a safe and secure Israel and a two-state solution. I will always be firm in supporting Israel as a sovereign nation, supplying defensive tools like the Iron Dome, demanding the release of all hostages". That month she joined the 56-Democrat letter urging withheld offensive transfers, and in November 2024 she joined Sens. Sanders and Welch urging the administration to stop sending offensive weapons.

Welcoming the January 2025 ceasefire as “extremely welcome news”, she pressed the continuing humanitarian crisis; in September 2025 she named a genocide citing U.N. findings; and in June 2026 she led 75 colleagues condemning Israeli military engagement in Lebanon and the destruction of civilian homes with U.S.-origin equipment in question.

On antisemitism she votes against definition-codification while claiming the fight as her own: she opposed the Antisemitism Awareness Act as "a misguided, ineffective attempt at getting to the root of this issue", invoking her grandfather’s death in the Holocaust, and in February 2026, when the attorney general accused her of contributing to an antisemitic culture, she answered "Talking about antisemitism to a woman who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust?" and left the hearing, per the Times of Israel. In November 2025 she joined Vermont’s delegation condemning anti-Palestinian hatred on the anniversary of the Burlington shooting. Her November-December 2023 statements, including her first-Jewish-member ceasefire call, are on the research page; her July 2023 AIEF trip predates it.

The record

Supported sending weapons or funding in 1 of 6 tracked votes · Backs 1 of 1 tracked bills to restrict weapons transfers

Floor votes
H.R. 6126 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act2023-11-02 · Passed 226-196
✓ Voted No
voted against sending it
H.R. 7217 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 20242024-02-06 · Failed 250-180 (needed 2/3 under suspension)
✓ Voted No
voted against sending it
H.R. 8034 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 20242024-04-20 · Passed 366-58
✓ Voted No
voted against sending it
H.R. 8369 - Israel Security Assistance Support Act2024-05-16 · Passed 224-187
✓ Voted No
voted against sending it
H.R. 8595 - Massie amendment (Part A No. 8) to bar FY27 funds for Israel and cut $3.3B in Foreign Military Financing2026-07-15 · Failed 104-314
✓ Voted Yes
voted to limit or block it
H.Amdt. 55 to H.R. 4016 - strike $500M for Israeli Cooperative Programs2025-07-18 · Failed 6-422 (only 6 voted to cut)
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
Bill sponsorship
H.R. 3565 - Block the Bombs ActWould bar transfer of 2,000-lb/BLU-109 bunker busters, JDAMs, 120mm tank rounds, and 155mm artillery shells to Israel. Does not affect Iron
Co-sponsorbacks this bill to restrict weapons transfers
H.R. 1229 - United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025Formalizes/expands bilateral defense cooperation with Israel.
Not sponsoringhas not backed this support bill
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 1 of 6 tracked votes.)

The money

Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found

2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-09-27) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
✓ Endorsed by A New Policy PAC +1 more
A New Policy PACA group backing congressional candidates who want a new U.S. policy toward Israel and Palestine grounded in U.S. and international law, including conditions on military aid.Track AIPACA watchdog on AIPAC-linked money. It backs candidates who reject AIPAC support and call for an arms embargo and conditions on aid to the government of Israel.These endorsements come from groups that push to restrict or end U.S. weapons transfers to the government of Israel. Endorsements from these groups are shown for information; they do not decide the mark.

In their words

“I will vote “no” on sending more offensive weapons and dollars to Israel.”
Source ↗, 2024-04-19
“To give the Netanyahu government more offensive weapons at this stage is to condone the utter destruction of Gaza we’ve seen over the last seven months and risks fueling a deadly regional war.”
Source ↗, 2024-04-19
Endorsements

A New Policy PAC (2026 endorsement) · Track 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

  • Her recorded votes appear as badges on this card: No on H.R. 6126, H.R. 8034, H.R. 8369, and H.R. 7217; No on the amendment to cut $500 million for Israeli missile-defense programs; Yes on the 2026 amendment to cut $3.3 billion from aid to Israel.
  • [Position, 2024-04-19] The vote-no statement, verified in a browser render and quoted on the card; defensive-tools naming stays off the front.
  • [Action, 2024-04-09] The withheld-transfers letter release, verified by page.
  • [Action, 2024-11-14] The delegation call to stop offensive weapons, verified with her named.
  • [Position, 2024-02-06] Her vote against the $17.6 billion standalone bill, explained in VTDigger’s report as lacking humanitarian relief; verified.
  • [Action, 2026-06-29] The Lebanon letter, verified by page.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • [Position, 2024-04-19] The same statement’s UNRWA-prohibition concern and aid-access demands, verified.
  • [Position, 2025-01-15] The ceasefire welcome, verified: the humanitarian crisis "will continue to demand the world’s attention".

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Position, 2025-09-17] The genocide statement, verified by page and quoted on the card.
  • Her October 25, 2023 interview, November 16, 2023 ceasefire op-ed (the first Jewish member of Congress to call for one, per the Forward), and the November 2023 fundraiser protest are not on the card summary.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Action, 2023-07] The AIEF (AIPAC-affiliated) delegation trip to Israel; pre-window, reported via contemporaneous coverage.
  • [Reported] The Antisemitism Response and Prevention Act co-introduction; marked uncorroborated in the research, reported, not confirmed directly.

Safety and antisemitism

  • [Position, 2024-05-01] The H.R. 6090 opposition, verified and quoted in the deep dive.
  • [Position, 2024-04-16] Her criticism of the river-to-the-sea resolution as divisive; her own release, reported by page listing.
  • [Event, 2026-02-11] The Bondi exchange, verified via the Times of Israel; the accusation is the attorney general’s, her answer is hers.
  • [Action, 2025-11-25] The Burlington-anniversary statement, verified with her named.
  • Her December 5, 2023 statement on H.Res. 894 (antisemitism a "clear and present threat" while opposing the anti-Zionism equation) is not on the card summary.

Sources retrieved for this card

Race and status context

  • Sitting member, nominated. Her Republican challenger’s card carries its own record.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Gerald Malloy (Republican)
  2. – Adam Ortiz (Independent)
  3. – Phoenix K. Altair (Independent)
  4. – Ryan P. Walton (Independent)
  5. – Suzanne "Suz" Seymour (Independent)

All Vermont 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.