Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul for the governorship of New York State, appeared on ShmueliCast, a mostly Yiddish-speaking podcast hosted by singer Shmueli Ungar that covers Jewish music, culture, community events, finance, geopolitics, and personal stories.

While the shows are conducted in Yiddish, the hosts switch to English depending on their guests.

They spoke to Blakeman in English, with Ungar opening the interview with a question on how to address his guest. When Blakeman told him he can call him Baruch, his Hebrew name, Ungar expressed astonishment, saying he hadn’t known Blakeman was Jewish.

“How about Yiddish?” the host asked.

“A bissel,” Blakeman responded.

Blakeman is a staunch supporter of Israel and admirer of the IDF. In September, he thanked the IDF in a social media statement for the elimination of Jihad Samih Mahmoud Ismail, a terrorist and member of Hamas’ elite Nukhba unit who participated in killing Nassau County resident and lone soldier Capt. Omer Neutra. Then he challenged Gov. Hochul and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to do the same.

“Much appreciation to the State of Israel and the IDF for bringing justice to the Hamas terrorist that abducted the body of New Yorker Omer Neutra, who was killed on October 7,” he wrote, before inviting the governor of New York and the mayor of New York City to join him in thanking the IDF.

“I welcome Kathy Hochul and Zohran K. Mamdani to join me in thanking Israel for bringing Omer’s killer to justice,” he added. “Omer was an American from Nassau County, and his murder struck close to home for all of us.”

Blakeman is an attorney and politician serving as the 10th county executive of Nassau County. Elected to the office in 2021, he is the first Jewish executive of the county.