Jim Pillen

Deep Dive

Pillen is Nebraska's governor and the Republican nominee for a second term. He has never held federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are his. What he has instead is an unusually active state record on this subject for a governor.

In October 2025 he led a four-day state trade and solidarity mission to Israel. His delegation promoted Nebraska beef exports, advocated for Nebraska-built defense technologies, and met the Israeli prime minister, the Israeli president and the U.S. ambassador. The delegation toured Palmachim Air Force Base, home to the Israeli Air Force's air defense division, which operates the Arrow, David's Sling and Iron Dome interception systems. His office's account says Nebraska companies contribute to those capabilities, and quotes him saying "There's no doubt about it, the people of Nebraska play a critical role in saving lives" and, in a second sentence the release separates with its own attribution, "Our own national security benefits enormously from this relationship, and it was impressive to witness it firsthand." Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem during the trip, he said Nebraska defense technologies are already used for Israeli defense, naming General Dynamics, which has a manufacturing plant in Lincoln: "The people of Nebraska and the folks that are part of General Dynamics are playing a significant role". That is a governor selling his state's defense industry into that market, and it is the closest thing on this record to a position on weapons. The mission was organized with an advocacy organization and drew protests at home.

In May 2026 he signed an executive order requiring Nebraska's public schools, community colleges and universities to track antisemitic incidents and report them to his office, using the definition adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. At the signing a reporter asked whether the order had First Amendment implications for Nebraskans who criticize Israeli policy in Gaza. He answered by recounting his visit and then said: "Anybody that wants to stand up and talk about Palestinians, they've got to understand that those people are born to kill Jews and Christians." Asked whether that was an over-generalization, he said he did not think so. The Lincoln Journal Star ran the sentence as its pull quote, and the Nebraska Examiner reported it independently.

On the federal question this card exists to answer, nothing was located: no statement from him on U.S. weapons or U.S. money for the government of Israel, and none on U.S. aid to Palestinians. Nebraska has no law barring public contracts with companies that boycott Israel; the bill that would have created one was indefinitely postponed without a recorded floor vote.

The record

• Led a four-day state 'trade and solidarity mission' to Israel (Oct. 2025), meeting Netanyahu and Herzog, promoting Nebraska beef exports and advocating for Nebraska-built defense technologies, and touring an Israeli air-defense base tied to the Arrow/Iron Dome systems.

• Signed a May 2026 executive order requiring Nebraska public schools, community colleges and universities to track and report antisemitic incidents to the governor's office, based on the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

• Issued an official statement on the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks pledging Nebraska's 'steadfast support of our ally Israel.'

In their words

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

• Nothing located from him on U.S. weapons or U.S. money for the government of Israel. He has never held federal office.
• [Position, 2025-10-31] Adjacent, and the reason the card leads where it does: his office's account of his four-day trade and solidarity mission says the state delegation "advocated for Nebraska-built defense technologies" and toured Palmachim Air Force Base, home to the air defense division that operates the Arrow, David's Sling and Iron Dome systems, with the release stating that "Nebraska companies make an important contribution to Israel's defense capabilities." Quoted as two separate spans, because the page splits them with an attribution: "There's no doubt about it, the people of Nebraska play a critical role in saving lives" and "Our own national security benefits enormously from this relationship, and it was impressive to witness it firsthand." Also on the page, again as two spans: "The existing trade relationship between Nebraska and Israel is tremendous, but it was also enormously impactful to bear witness to the alliance between our two countries and the gratitude the people of Israel have for America's support for their frontline fight against violent Islamist extremism" and "America and Israel are in the same fight, and I was honored to see the fruits of our friendship." This is state commerce and state diplomacy, not a federal funding position, and the card does not convert it into one.
• [Position, 2025-10-28] Nebraska Public Media, reporting from the trip, says he was in Israel "to promote Nebraska trade and U.S. defense technology" and that he "said Nebraska defense technologies are already being used for Israeli defense, mentioning aerospace and defense company General Dynamics, which has a manufacturing facility in Lincoln." His words, as two spans the article separates with an attribution: "The people of Nebraska and the folks that are part of General Dynamics are playing a significant role" and "The technological advancements are saving a lot of lives." Again state commerce, not a position on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel.
• [Position, 2025-10-24] The mission was organized alongside an advocacy organization, which published its own account of it, and JNS reported the beef-export purpose ahead of the trip. It drew protest from Nebraska advocacy groups, reported by KLIN. His chief of staff later gave the organization an interview about the state's approach; those are the chief of staff's words, not the governor's.
• [Reaction window, 2023-10-14] A statement from his office in which he said "America must stand with Israel now, and our national leaders must unequivocally voice their support for Israel and condemn both Hamas and any other hostile nation or organization which would seek to take advantage of this crisis" and "I am calling on the federal government to meet America’s obligations in this crisis." The obligations he then lists are three: to protect American citizens in harm's way, including those who may be held by Hamas; to "ensure that no aid of any kind is sent to Iran"; and to secure the southern border. It does not ask for U.S. military aid or weapons for the government of Israel. Dated in the weeks after October 7, 2023, so it is listed here but not used for the card. It is the only item on this record in which he addresses U.S. aid at all, and the aid it addresses is aid to Iran.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

• Nothing located in any band. The reaction-window statement above asks that no aid reach Iran; it says nothing about aid to Palestinians.

Characterization of the conflict

• [Position, 2026-05-29] At the signing of his antisemitism executive order, asked whether the order carried First Amendment implications for Nebraskans who criticize Israeli policy in Gaza, per Nebraska Public Media: "Everybody, whether it's in the Gaza Strip (or elsewhere), they want to kill every Jewish person on the planet," and "Anybody that wants to stand up and talk about Palestinians, they've got to understand that those people are born to kill Jews and Christians." Asked whether that was an over-generalization, he said he did not think it was. Independently reported by the Nebraska Examiner, which carries the same operative clause with a slightly different lead-in, and by the Lincoln Journal Star, which prints the second sentence as its pull quote attributed to him by name. Three outlets, one of them his hometown daily.
• [Position, 2025-10-31] From the trade-mission release: the alliance is described as critical to "their frontline fight against violent Islamist extremism", quoted above.
• [Reaction window, 2023-10-14] He called the attacks horrific and barbaric and framed the response as a defensive war against Iran-backed terrorists, in the statement above. Not on the card summary.

State action: the antisemitism order and boycott legislation

• [Position, 2026-05-29] Signed an executive order requiring Nebraska public schools, community colleges and universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, report incidents annually to the governor's office by September 1, and use state-provided material on the Holocaust, on Israel and on Jewish-American history. At the signing he said: "Our schools must be sanctuaries of learning, safety and mutual respect. No student in Nebraska should ever have to hide their faith, their heritage or who they are out of fear." JNS covered it. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska criticized the order publicly; its statement is on a social-media page that returns an error, so it is named here without a link.
• [Position, 2023-10] He directed state agencies enforcing non-discrimination law to use the same definition when investigating complaints.
• [Position, 2024-04-18] Nebraska has not enacted a law barring public contracts with companies that boycott Israel. The bill that would have done so was indefinitely postponed with no recorded floor vote, so no legislator's position on it is on the record.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

• [Position, 2025-10-07] Official statement on the second anniversary of the Hamas attack: "The state of Nebraska, under my leadership, stands in steadfast support of our ally Israel and the Jewish people as we condemn antisemitism in all forms. We pray for the return of those who remain hostage, and we are hopeful that we will soon see lasting peace in the Middle East." It names no U.S. weapons, arms transfer or funding.
• [Position, 2024-09-26] He joined 25 other Republican governors in a letter urging the Senate to pass federal antisemitism legislation. Collective wording; nothing in the letter is attributed to him alone.
• [Position, 2025-05-14] He joined Republican governors in a statement marking Israel's independence day and Jewish American Heritage Month. Also collective.
• [Position, 2024-10-07] He ordered flags to half-staff on the first anniversary of the attack. The only source located is a radio station's social-media post that returns an error, so it is recorded here without a link.
• Source problem, stated plainly: one address in this record, https://governor.nebraska.gov/press/gov-pillen-announces-strategy-fight-antisemitism , was no longer online when we tried it on 2026-08-17, so we could not open it and it is not linked anywhere here. It was cited in the record for a check on endorsements that resolved empty, so no fact on this card depends on it.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

• The executive order, the state-agency direction, the two governors' letters and the anniversary statement, all above. The Nebraska Public Media report also carries remarks from an advocate at the signing on the rate of religiously motivated hate crimes, which are that speaker's, not his.

Race and status context

• Republican incumbent and nominee for re-election, running against the Democratic nominee Lynne Walz and the Legal Marijuana NOW nominee Rick Beard, per Ballotpedia's race page and his Ballotpedia profile.
• He did not serve in Congress during any of the tracked votes.