Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in New York, is outlining an aggressive law-and-order platform centered in part on combating antisemitism and defending Israel as he surges in the polls with the campaign season heating up.

In responses to a series of policy questions presented by The Algemeiner, Blakeman pointed to his record in Nassau County, home to a large Jewish population, as a model for how he would govern statewide. He argued that stricter enforcement and a tougher stance on protests have helped prevent unrest seen elsewhere in the region.

“In Nassau we have not permitted the lawless rioting that has threatened the safety and security of the Jewish community in New York City and on college campuses,” Blakeman said, adding that demonstrators who break the law must “face arrest” and that local policies banning face coverings during protests have helped deter violence.

“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,” Blakeman told The Algemeiner.

“These professional paid agitators know that in Nassau they face arrest if they break the law,” he said, adding that Nassau has “made it illegal for them to wear masks for them to hide their identities.”

Concealing one’s identity with face masks became a common feature of the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel demonstrations that erupted on college campuses across the US, as well as in the streets of New York, during the Gaza war.

Blakeman’s comments come amid heightened concern over antisemitic incidents in New York and nationally, an issue that has become increasingly central in state and local political debates.

Blakeman, who was first elected Nassau County executive in 2021 and won reelection last year, has repeatedly taken aim at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing him of promoting anti-Israel positions and rhetoric he described as dangerous to Jewish communities.

When asked whether he would use the governor’s office to counter potential anti-Israel actions by New York City leadership, Blakeman pointed to his past support for anti-boycott measures targeting the Jewish state. As a former Hempstead councilman, he sponsored what he described as the nation’s first anti-BDS law in 2016, using the acronym for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against the Jewish state.

“As governor, I will push for the New York State Legislature to pass similar legislation statewide,” Blakeman said, criticizing Democrats — including incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who he is vying to unseat — for not advancing such measures into law.

“Currently, it is only an executive order because the left wing of the Democrat party will not allow a vote,” Blakeman added. “Kathy Hochul lacks the political courage to push for the law. That will change with me as governor.”

The BDS movement seeks to isolate Israel on the international stage as the first step toward its elimination. Leaders of the movement have repeatedly stated their goal is to destroy the world’s only Jewish state.

Blakeman dismissed the possibility that Mamdani, who has described Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a war criminal and vowed to arrest him if he visits New York, could take legal action against Israeli officials, stating unequivocally that the mayor “will not arrest” Netanyahu. 

Blakeman also weighed in on controversies involving academic and extensive business ties to Israel. He rejected calls by some activists to sever ties between New York City and the Cornell Tech campus, which was developed in partnership with Israel’s Technion.

“I believe that act would be illegal and it will not happen when I am governor,” the candidate said. 

Blakeman, who previously worked as a lawyer, argued that any attempt to remove or isolate the campus would be unlawful and contrary to principles of academic freedom. “Israeli technology is good for business and good for New York,” Blakeman said, adding that the state should embrace innovation from Israel’s tech sector.

Similarly, Blakeman criticized efforts that, he said, push out companies with Israeli ties, referencing a drone manufacturer that recently departed the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He echoed comments from Democratic Assemblyman Kalman Yeger, who called such moves economically harmful.

“Boycotting Israel or companies that do business with Israel is illegal in New York,” Blakeman said, suggesting he would enforce those laws more aggressively as governor.

On the question of whether New York City could divest from Israel bonds, Blakeman argued that such authority does not rest with city leadership. He did not outline specific steps he would take but indicated opposition to any such move.

Blakeman drew a direct line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism, saying that denying Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state constitutes a “fundamentally antisemitic position.” He said that Mamdani, an avowed anti-Zionist who has accused the Jewish state of enacting “apartheid” and committing “genocide” against the Palestinians, of holding such views and said that rhetoric targeting Israel can endanger Jewish communities more broadly.

“Mamdani denies Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State. What he is saying is that other peoples have a right to a homeland but the Jewish people do not. That is a fundamentally antisemitic position,” he said. 

“Mamdani’s continued hateful rhetoric against Israel endangers the Jewish community,” Blakeman continued.

He also criticized Democrats for what he described as support for Mamdani, a democratic socialist, framing the issue as a broader divide within the party over policy toward Israel.

“It is shocking to me that Democrats like the governor support an antisemitic figure like Mamdani,” he said, referring to Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani during last year’s mayoral election.

Jewish New Yorkers and supporters of Israel more broadly have worried that Mamdani will weaponize his power as mayor to enact anti-Israel and antisemitic policies. Spectators argue that the election of a pro-Israel governor could serve as a useful bulwark against a city government with an increasingly hostile posture against Israel.

Blakeman’s comments to The Algemeiner highlight a growing fault line in New York politics, where debates over Israel, antisemitism, and public safety are increasingly intersecting with partisan divides. As tensions continue to rise, candidates across the political spectrum are staking out positions that could shape the state’s political landscape heading into the next election cycle.

Blakeman’s comments also come at a time when he has been surging in the polls just over seventh months out from the Nov. 3 election.

In just the past month, Hochul’s lead over Blakeman dropped 7 points, according to new Siena University poll released on Tuesday. The data showed Hochul holding a 13-point lead over Blakeman, 47 percent to 34 percent, but in February the margin was much wider, 51 to 31 percent.

According to Siena pollster Steven Greenberg, independents are mainly responsible for the narrowing gap.

“Interestingly, Hochul’s standing with New Yorkers is essentially the same as last month – a small plurality views her favorably, and a small majority approves of the job she’s doing as governor – as is Blakeman’s, yet the race between the two has tightened a little,” Greenberg said in a statement. “Three-quarters of Democrats continue to support Hochul, and more than three-quarters of Republicans continue to support Blakeman, but now independents favor Blakeman by seven points, after siding with Hochul by five points.”

Interestingly, New York City is one place where Blakeman made up ground.

“While Hochul maintains very narrow leads upstate and in the downstate suburbs, her lead in New York City fell from 46 points, 63 percent to 17 percent, last month to 29 points, 54 percent to 25 percent, today,” Greenberg added. “Is that movement or merely noise? Let’s see what happens next month after the budget and as the campaign unfolds.”

Days earlier, new internal polling released by Blakeman showed him within single digits of Hochul, trailing 52 percent to 43 percent in New York, a staunchly Democratic state.