Blakeman Doubles Down on Criticism of Lander, Labeling Him a ‘Collaborator’ With Israel’s Enemies

The Republican nominee for New York State governor is renewing his attack on a fellow Jewish politician over his support for the Palestinians, calling the Democratic congressional candidate, Brad Lander, a “collaborator” with the enemies of Israel. The Nassau County executive, Bruce Blakeman, leveled the charge on CNN Friday evening, responding to questions from host Kaitlan Collins about his earlier statement likening Mr. Lander to a Nazi concentration camp guard.While he has since acknowledged that the term concentration camp guard may have been “too strong,” Mr. Blakeman was unapologetic on CNN. “I am not changing my statement,” he told Ms. Collins. “He is a collaborator with people who want to harm the Jewish people. I will admit to that; that is my statement against him.”Mr. Blakeman also said he believes Mr. Lander, as a Jewish politician, “had a responsibility to speak the truth, and I don’t think he speaks the truth. I don’t think he is someone that supports the state of Israel. I think that he blows with the wind; I think he is totally malleable, so I think he is a collaborator.”A former New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, appeared on the same CNN segment in defense of Mr. Lander, one of three pro-Palestinian candidates for Congress who won their primaries at New York City this week.“We saw a horrible massacre by Hamas,” Mr. de Blasio said in reference to the October 7, 2023, attack that killed almost 1,200 people in Israel. “It was unacceptable. It was terrorism of the worst kind. And at the same time we can say, what [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government has done to innocent Palestinian people is also unacceptable. You can say both those things.”Mr. Lander won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday in New York’s 10th Congressional District, which covers Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, by upsetting the two-term incumbent, Dan Goldman, who is also Jewish and has described himself as a “proud Zionist.”Democrats were incensed after Mr. Blakeman described Mr. Lander on the conservative channel Newsmax this week as antisemitic. “Even though he’s Jewish, this guy would be a camp guard in the concentration camp if he could,” Mr. Blakeman said. “He’s a disaster. He’s terrible.”Mr. Lander has long described himself as a liberal Zionist who believes in a two-state solution. He was one of three congressional candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who successfully took on his own party’s establishment on Tuesday. Matthew Rice contributed to this article.

Blakeman Doubles Down on Criticism of Lander, Labeling Him a ‘Collaborator’ With Israel’s Enemies

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