Jim Pillen

Pillen led a state trade mission to Israel in October 2025, advocating for Nebraska-built defense technologies and touring an Israeli air-defense base. Asked about Nebraskans who criticize the war in Gaza, he said Palestinians "are born to kill Jews and Christians".

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." 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.

Research

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." Verified verbatim 2026-08-17 and re-read 2026-08-18, as two separate spans the page splits 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, 2025-10-24] 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 calling on the federal government to meet America's obligations to support Israel's military response, to secure American hostages, and to ensure no U.S. aid reached Hamas or Iran. Off the card (C1): dated inside the reaction window. It is the only item on this record in which he addresses U.S. aid at all, which is why the absence above is stated carefully.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

Nothing located in any band, except the clause of the reaction-window statement above about aid not reaching Hamas or Iran, which is off the card for the same reason.

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, read and verified verbatim 2026-08-17: "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 carriers, 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. Off the card (C1).

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, verified verbatim: "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 carrier offered 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 , returned 404 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.
His tracked vote cells are all not-in-office.