{"id":177823,"date":"2026-06-26T00:46:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/177823\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T00:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:46:14","slug":"blakeman-slams-lander-in-tv-interview-over-israel-stance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/177823\/","title":{"rendered":"Blakeman slams Lander in TV interview over Israel stance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman made an explosive attack against Brad Lander<\/a>, saying the Democratic congressional candidate, who is Jewish, would be a \u201cguard in a concentration camp\u201d because of his views on Israel.<\/p>\n

The remark made on TV on Wednesday night led Lander \u2014 and many others \u2014 to call for an apology. But none seems to be forthcoming from Blakeman, who is also Jewish.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s anti-American, he\u2019s antisemitic, even though he\u2019s Jewish, this guy would be a camp guard in a concentration camp if he could. He\u2019s a disaster, he\u2019s terrible,\u201d Blakeman said during an interview on Newsmax Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman made an explosive attack against Brad Lander, saying the Democratic congressional candidate, who is Jewish, would be a \u201cguard in a concentration camp\u201d because of his views on Israel.
\n
The remark made on TV on Wednesday night led Lander \u2014 and many others \u2014 to call for an apology. But none seems to be forthcoming from Blakeman, who is also Jewish
\n
On Thursday, the Republican doubled down in a statement to NY1, which said, in part: \u201cMaybe camp guard was too strong, but certainly a collaborator, as Brad Lander turned his back on the Jewish community”<\/p>\n

Where politicians stand on Israel and the United States\u2019 involvement after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas has sparked a deep divide among voters \u2014 specifically, Jewish New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

The topic often dominated the politics of the recent primary.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of us have a deep connection to Israel, but probably disagree with its government and its actions on many levels,\u201d Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all being flattened in the conversation when it\u2019s either \u2018you\u2019re with Israel or you\u2019re against Israel, you\u2019re either with the Jewish community or you\u2019re against the Jewish community\u2019 and that\u2019s the most dangerous part,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Blakeman disagrees with Lander\u2019s criticism of Israel.<\/p>\n

His comments allude to a derogatory term used to describe concentration camp inmates, used by the Nazis to supervise other prisoners.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Republican doubled down in a statement to NY1, which said, in part: \u201cMaybe camp guard was too strong, but certainly a collaborator, as Brad Lander turned his back on the Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lander responded and also requested an apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you care about the human rights and freedom and dignity and lives of Palestinians and don\u2019t want to keep sending bombs to kill them, then you\u2019re like a concentration camp guard \u2014 that is just Trumpism, that\u2019s just hate, that\u2019s just vile,\u201d he told NY1.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those Jews who didn\u2019t vote for me on Tuesday, for people who are anxious, this is a time of rising antisemitism. Let\u2019s have a better conversation about it. There [are] ways to disagree about U.S. policy toward Israel,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Lander\u2019s primary success in New York\u2019s 10th Congressional District<\/a>, covering parts of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, his opponent, Rep. Dan Goldman, was banned from a coffee shop in the district over his pro-Israel views.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also dangerous when our political leaders label people good or bad or try to decide who is in the tent of the Jewish community or not,\u201d Spitalnick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt effectively excuses or normalizes attacks and even violence against the people who are considered bad,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Blakeman also drew ire from his opponent, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who leads him in a head-to-head race by over 20 points, according to a recent Siena University poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely despicable. It just reminds New Yorkers that every single time Bruce Blakeman opens up his mouth, he\u2019s simply auditioning for his next role in the Trump administration after he loses the election,\u201d Hochul told NY1 in an exclusive interview Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he did in doubling down on his disgusting remarks disqualifies him from public office,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

But the New York Republican State Committee defended Blakeman.<\/p>\n

\u201cAntisemitism has become mainstream in the Democratic Party,\u201d said David Laska, state GOP spokesman.<\/p>\n

\u201cKathy Hochul is too weak and too afraid to stand up to her own party and defend Jewish Americans. Republicans will continue to call them out and stand up for the rights of Jewish and all Americans to live in safety,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman made an explosive attack against Brad Lander, saying the Democratic congressional candidate,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[7940,34367,5478,54181,37,10962,8982,42,34369,34368,81,677,5473],"class_list":["post-177823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-app-ny-state-of-politics","tag-app-top-stories","tag-bernadette-hogan","tag-israel","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-ny-state-of-politics","tag-ny-state-of-politics-blog","tag-politics","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116813652486777930","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}