Though millions of Americans have already voted, we are two weeks away from what is formally known as “Election Day,” on Nov. 3 this year.

While the overwhelming focus is on the presidential election, all 435 members of the House of Representatives will also be decided during the election along with 35 seats in the Senate.

A key issue for everyone reading this email is foreign policy — specifically the Middle East and most specifically, Israel. While the president and his administration sets and guides foreign policy, Congress does play a role: from determining budgets and funding, to considering resolutions that are advisory but have little consequence, to passing laws, to holding investigative hearings that can shed light on a range of issues.

A candidate’s opinion and position on Israel and the Middle East therefore is important. Rarely during congressional campaigns is foreign policy an issue the candidates delve into with any depth. So Greater Philadelphia ZOA decided to ask candidates vying in select contests within our region their opinions/positions on key matters about and related to the Middle East and Israel. Some candidates opted to respond to our request while others did not.

The Zionist Organization of America is a non-profit organization and as such does not endorse candidates. The purpose of the questionnaire and our publishing of the responses is purely informational for voters. One should not read anything related to a candidate’s position on an issue based on the candidate’s failure to respond to our questionnaire. The answers that we received are published verbatim as they were sent to us.

To see the questions, who responded and what they had to say, plus our methodology, please go to: https://philly.zoa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/10/candidates-questionnaire-2020-results-responses.pdf