Bruce Blakeman

Deep Dive

Blakeman is the Nassau County executive and the Republican nominee for governor of New York. His record on this subject is a county and personal one rather than a federal one, and he is direct about it.

In a January 2026 interview he said, "I am a strong supporter of Israel," and, in the next breath, "I am a Zionist and a proud Zionist." In the same interview he described what he has done with the office he holds: built business ties with Israel, brought in county legislation against boycotts of it, and signed friendship agreements with what he called Judea and Samaria and with the Shomron Regional Council, a council of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Those are decisions about a county's own dealings, not about federal weapons or funding.

He has since said what he would do with a bigger office. Answering policy questions in March 2026 he pointed to the anti-boycott law he sponsored as a town councilman in 2016 and said, "As governor, I will push for the New York State Legislature to pass similar legislation statewide", noting that New York currently has only an executive order. In the same answers he said he would not permit New York City to cut its ties to a campus built with an Israeli university, and that "Boycotting Israel or companies that do business with Israel is illegal in New York." He also pointed to the Nassau County law he signed in 2024 making it a misdemeanour to wear a face covering in public to conceal identity, which he presents as a measure against masked demonstrators.

One personal fact belongs here because it is money and it is his. His 2025 federal tax return, reviewed by reporters in April 2026, shows $3,784 of interest on bonds issued by the State of Israel. That is his own money lent to that government, which is why it is here; it is not a decision about what the United States sends.

On U.S. weapons and money, and on conditioning either, nothing from him could be verified. A governor has no vote on those questions, but a nominee for the office is asked about them, so if you want his answer you are better placed to get it than we are: ask Blakeman directly and send us the reply.

The record

• January 2026: Said that as Nassau County Executive he implemented anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (boycott-divestment-sanctions) legislation, built business ties to Israel, and signed 'friendship agreements' with West Bank settlement bodies, including the Shomron Regional Council (a council of Israeli settlements).

• January 2026: Pledged that as governor he would dispatch state police and the National Guard to enforce the law against antisemitic and anti-Israel disorder if New York City's mayor failed to act.

• Reported April 28, 2026 (2025 tax year): Blakeman's federal tax return shows he personally holds bonds issued by the State of Israel, earning $3,784 in interest.

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

• [Position, 2026-07-24, negative search recorded in this record] Searches for statements by him on U.S. military aid or weapons to the government of Israel, and on conditioning that aid, returned nothing. His located record is county-level, state-level and rhetorical.
• [Position, 2026-06-24, unverified] Our search reports that in a television interview he opposed proposals to restrict or end U.S. military assistance to the government of Israel, including funding for Iron Dome, while attacking a Democratic candidate who had called for halting that aid. If it stands, it is the only position on the federal question anywhere on this record. Neither carrier offered for it can be read: a national newspaper's article on the same interview would not load on any route, and the other address is a news organization's social-media post that returns an error. It is written out here as looked at and not established, and nothing on the card rests on it.

⚠ **The same interview carries the remark he is best known for.** Our search reports that he said the same candidate "would be a camp guard in a concentration camp if he could". That is quoted here from our search notes and from nowhere we could open, so it is not treated as verified and appears on no card text.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

• Nothing located.

Characterization of the conflict

• [Position, 2026-01-06] In a Jewish Insider interview, read and verified verbatim: "I am a strong supporter of Israel," and, as a separate span after the reporter's attribution, "I am a Zionist and a proud Zionist." The two are kept separate here rather than joined with an ellipsis as the record had them.
• [Reaction window, 2023-10-18] At a rally he described the conflict as a battle between good and evil rather than a territorial dispute, and said peace could come only after Hamas is destroyed, reported by the Jewish Star. Not on the card summary.
• [Reaction window, 2023-11-28] He called on Hofstra University's president to resign over a letter to the campus community, saying its wording created a moral equivalence, reported by WSHU and by News 12. Not on the card summary.
• [Position, 2025-03-11] On a television programme he characterized some pro-Palestinian student demonstrators as connected to foreign networks. The only carrier is a video page in which an interviewer challenges him to corroborate what he is saying; the exchange has no transcript, so nothing from it is quoted.

State and county action

• [Position, 2026-03-31] Answers to policy questions from the Algemeiner, read and verified verbatim: "As governor, I will push for the New York State Legislature to pass similar legislation statewide," referring to the anti-boycott law he sponsored as a Hempstead councilman in 2016, and "Currently, it is only an executive order because the left wing of the Democrat party will not allow a vote." On a campus built in partnership with an Israeli university: "I believe that act would be illegal and it will not happen when I am governor." And: "Israeli technology is good for business and good for New York." And: "Boycotting Israel or companies that do business with Israel is illegal in New York." And, on his county record: "As the leader of Nassau County, home to 1.5 million people, of which almost 300,000 identify as Jewish, I have made protecting the Jewish community a priority."
• [Position, 2026-01-06] Jewish Insider interview: he said that as Nassau County executive he built business ties with Israel, implemented county legislation against boycotts of it, and signed friendship agreements with what he called Judea and Samaria, the term the Israeli government uses for the West Bank, and with the Shomron Regional Council, described by the article as a council of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Reported speech about his own record, not a quoted span.
• [Position, 2026-01-06] Same interview: pledged that if New York City's mayor failed to enforce the law he would dispatch state police and the National Guard, saying, verified verbatim, "We will not let any community be lawless, and I will not tolerate any acts of bigotry, antisemitism or racism in a state where I'm the governor."
• [Position, 2024-08-14] He signed Nassau County's Mask Transparency Act, making it a misdemeanour to wear a face covering in public to conceal identity, with health and religious exceptions, reported by CBS News New York. The county legislature had passed it earlier that month, reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He presents it as a measure against masked demonstrators; an advocacy organization welcomed it.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

• [Position, 2026-04-28] His 2025 federal tax return, made available to reporters and covered by WXXI and the New York Public News Network, records $3,784 of interest on bonds issued by the State of Israel. A personal holding, not a public one; verified on the page.
• [Position, 2026-01-06] Same interview: he said most antisemitism in the United States comes from the political left, named a right-wing commentator and an online figure as having no place in his party, and said he expects to win Jewish Democratic voters. Campaign framing rather than a position on what America sends.
• [Position, 2026-08-14] He urged people at a coming memorial ceremony to turn their backs on New York City's mayor over the mayor's positions on Israel, reported by Newsweek. About a rival officeholder, not about what the United States sends.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

• The Mask Transparency Act and the Algemeiner answers above are the substance of this heading, and they are set out there rather than repeated.

Race and status context

• Nassau County executive since 2021, re-elected in 2025, and the Republican nominee for governor of New York, per his Ballotpedia and race coverage and the county's own page.
• He holds no federal office, so the congressional votes this site tracks are not his.