Should the U.S. fund Israel’s military? Here’s what SLO County’s congressional candidates say

As the primary election approaches, voters are asking candidates if they support the United States sending funding to Israel as its military deploys airstrikes and ground troops in Gaza.

Last week, protesters interrupted Rep. Salud Carbajal’s town hall — pressing him to call for a ceasefire. The next day, another group of Pro-Palestine protesters picketed outside of Cal Poly’s Winter Career Fair, objecting to weapons manufacturing companies recruiting students there.

Some candidates said they support Israel and want to continue sending money and weapons to its military, arguing that the country has a right to defend itself after Hamas killed more than 1,400 people when it attacked Israeli towns along the northern border of the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7.

Other candidates, however, said that Israel’s retaliatory strikes are inordinately killing civilians in Gaza, where more than 26,000 people have been reported dead since Oct. 7. Some of the congressional candidates called for an immediate ceasefire to protect civilian life.

San Luis Obispo County is divided into two congressional districts, with three candidates running for each seat. The top two vote-getters for each seat will advance to the General Election in November.

In District 19, which includes the northern half of San Luis Obispo County, along with parts of Monterey, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, is being challenged by Santa Cruz-based software engineer Sean Dougherty, running as a member of the Green Party, and Atascadero-based small business owner Jason Anderson, a Republican.

In District 24, which includes parts of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties and all of Santa Barbara County, Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, is being challenged by Ojai-based public school teacher Helena Pasquarella, a Democrat, and Montecito-based campaign data analyst Thomas Cole, a Republican.

Here’s where the candidates stand on the war.

District 19

Panetta and Anderson largely support Israel’s attacks on Gaza, while Dougherty does not.

In a January news release, Panetta said he supports Israel’s efforts to remove Hamas leadership but “advocated for pinpoint and targeted operations” in Gaza to limit civilian casualties.

Panetta said Israel should allow “humanitarian pauses in the fighting” to negotiate the release of hostages and give Gaza civilians time to access aid “when feasible,” he said in a November news release.

In an emailed statement to The Tribune, Anderson said he supports Israel.

“I stand with the people of Israel and their right to defend their borders and their people and support a quick an effective solution to restore peace in the region while minimizing the casualties of innocent civilians,” he wrote in an email on Tuesday.

Dougherty, however, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

“Jimmy Panetta’s answer to every problem is bombs. I want to be a challenge to him on his left,” Dougherty said at a Candidates for Peace event in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 21. “Jimmy Panetta is complicit in a genocide (of Palestinians in Gaza), and he needs to be removed.”

He also opposed the United States sending funding to any other country’s military — including Israel and Ukraine.

“If we were to stop sending military aid to Israel, the ceasefire would come naturally,” he said.

Dougherty would reduce the United States military budget and use that funding for domestic programs including universal college tuition or housing vouchers, he said.

District 24

In District 24, Carbajal largely agreed with how the United States responded to the war. Pasquarella and Cole, however, want the United States to stop providing funding to Israel’s military.

On Dec. 19, Carbajal joined a resolution calling for the renewal of “humanitarian pauses” in fighting in Gaza, along with the “safe, timely and sufficient delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip,” the resolution said.

Carbajal did not, however, join an October resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

He said he could potentially support a ceasefire in Gaza if Hamas released the remaining hostages.

“I think we all want to get to a ceasefire,” Carbajal said at the town hall on Jan. 22. “The Biden Administration is working hard with its diplomacy to try to achieve that.”

Additionally, Carbajal supports sending funding and weapons to Israel if “the resources that we provide are used appropriately,” he said during the town hall.

On Dec. 5, Carbajal and 12 other members of Congress signed a letter urging Biden to support the continued delivery of weapons and funding to Israel, while also pushing the country to “use precise targeting” and “reduce civilian harm” when attacking Gaza.

Pasquarella, however, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to protect civilians there. She also urged the United States to stop sending funding and weapons to Israel.

“If they don’t have our bombs, they can’t use them,” Pasquarella said at the Candidates for Peace event in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 21. “War is never an answer.”

Instead, Pasquarella supports closing military bases abroad, reducing the military budget and diverting that funding to social programs in the United States, she said.

“I don’t think we should have a strong military,” Pasquarella said. “We need to transform a military economy to a peace economy.”

Meanwhile, Cole said he doesn’t take issue with Israel’s military tactics, noting that he believes the country has a right to wage war in whatever way it sees fit. He would not support the United States calling for a ceasefire as he doesn’t want the country to intervene, he said.

However, Cole opposes the United States funding any other country’s military operations — including Israel’s. He said the United States should prioritize “diplomatic solutions.”

“I am not interested in sending money to any nation to wage war on their neighbor,” he told The Tribune on Monday. “We’ve turned into a proxy war financier. It’s not making us friends, and it’s not bringing peace in the world.”