Michael Blake, a former New York state lawmaker who officially launched his campaign for mayor of New York City on Tuesday, is facing new scrutiny for posting anti-Israel commentary in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks and the ensuing Gaza war — marking a sharp rhetorical shift from his past statements on Middle East strife.

In the weeks following Hamas’ attacks last year, Blake, a Democrat, shared highly critical social media comments amid the escalating conflict, charging Israel with enacting “genocide” in Gaza and demanding a cease-fire without calling for the release of hostages who had just been abducted.

“Genocide. It’s happening right before our eyes,” Blake posted to X on Oct. 23, just over two weeks after the attacks. “If you feel that you can’t say that while equally demanding a Cease Fire, eliminating a Terrorist organization, stopping an unjust gov’t, pursuing a Two State Solution & praying … You shouldn’t be in office.”

“Cease. Fire.” he wrote in another post four days later, refraining from mentioning the hostages as he had done in his first statement on Hamas’ invasion.

Last April, Blake also accused the Israel Defense Forces of engaging in a “horrible and disrespectful lie” about the killing of aid workers in Gaza. Later that month, he criticized a bipartisan House bill to federally monitor rising antisemitism on college campuses sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, calling the legislation “ridiculous.”

“Monitoring people doesn’t really work out well for People of Color and Young People,” Blake said of the bill on X. “Donations are not more important than Dignity. Antisemitism is unacceptable as is Palestinian Genocide as is killing Black & Brown people. Monitoring is ridiculous.”

More recently, Blake spoke out against a separate House bill that would make it easier for the federal government to revoke the tax-exempt status of a nonprofit accused of providing financial or material support to U.S.-designated terrorist groups such as Hamas.

Blake, who himself runs a nonprofit, has also aligned with several anti-Israel commentators and elected officials — including Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who had endorsed boycotts of Israel and railed against what he called the “Zionist regime” before losing his seat in a bitter primary over the summer. 

“Vote for @RepBowman,” Blake told his followers on X last June, saying the New York congressman “speaks about how principles and values drive him.” 

While some political observers, speaking on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive issue, said that Blake has long maintained ties with critics of Israel on the left, his recent comments represent a notable public break from previous statements in which he has expressed more full-throated support for Israel.

Blake, a 41-year-old former state assemblyman from the Bronx who worked in the Obama administration and served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, has previously traveled to Israel on two trips led by an AIPAC-affiliated group as well as the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. 

In 2017, he spoke at AIPAC’s policy conference in Washington, D.C., where he said that traveling to Israel made him “a better legislator” and “a better activist.”

“It helped me to understand that as a leader within my community and the Democratic Party, I have a responsibility to support America’s friend and ally, Israel,” Blake said in his remarks. 

One Jewish leader who has interacted with Blake recalled a roundtable meeting with rabbis during his failed bid for New York City public advocate in 2019, during which he “spoke about how much he loves Israel.”

Blake also ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2020, casting himself as a staunch supporter of the Jewish state.

His campaign did not respond to requests for comment about his evolution on Israel. 

“He’s a politician and the wind started blowing in another direction,” the Jewish leader speculated to Jewish Insider on Tuesday.

Blake’s newly announced bid for mayor has drawn increased scrutiny to his recent social media posts — particularly as he enters a crowded primary that currently features a number of candidates who have raised concerns in the Jewish community for using anti-Israel rhetoric or aligning with far-left critics of Israel.

In addition to seeking the mayorship, Blake, who also serves as an associate pastor in the Bronx, has been mulling a bid for DNC chair. He recently called himself a “moderate who has had progressive policy success,” while promoting a mayoral platform that includes universal childcare as well as tax breaks for middle-class homeowners, among other policies.

Even as Blake has also shared some concerns for Israel’s safety in recent months, his critics say that his more strident social media posts are worrying as he mounts a new bid to represent the largest Jewish community in the country.

Leon Goldenberg, a prominent Orthodox business leader in Brooklyn, said that Blake’s comments are a nonstarter. “He’s been terrible since Oct. 7,” he told JI.