Short answer: Yes. As of August 2026, Ron DeSantis, Florida's Governor, has one of the most consistently pro-Israel records of any sitting US governor. He directed state resources toward Israel right after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, directed Florida's public university Students for Justice in Palestine chapters to deactivate, an order that was legally challenged and only partly enforced, made it easier for Jewish students fleeing campus antisemitism to transfer into Florida schools, and signed what advocates call the strongest state-level anti-BDS law in the country. He is not Jewish himself, and there is no verified claim of Jewish ancestry or conversion tied to him.
What Ron Desantis has actually said and done
- October 12, 2023: Days after the Hamas attack, DeSantis issued an executive order directing Florida resources toward evacuation and cargo flights to and from Israel. State-chartered planes carried healthcare supplies, drones, body armor, and helmets, and Florida coordinated with private groups on additional shipments at the request of Israel's Miami consul general, according to the Times of Israel and Orlando Weekly.
- October 25, 2023: The State University System of Florida, acting in consultation with DeSantis, ordered public university chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine to "deactivate," citing the state's material-support-for-terrorism statute. The University of Florida chapter later sued over the order, as reported by Inside Higher Ed and National Review.
- January 31, 2026: A Florida Department of Emergency Management report disclosed the state had spent a cumulative $94.7 million on Israel-related assistance since October 7, 2023, including evacuation flights for stranded Americans and supply shipments, according to Keys News.
- January 2024: DeSantis signed Executive Order 23-242, directing Florida's public universities and colleges to waive certain transfer requirements, including credit-hour minimums and application windows, for students transferring from out-of-state schools due to a well-founded fear of antisemitic persecution. Details are on the Florida Governor's Office site.
- 2023 presidential campaign: During his run for the 2024 GOP nomination, DeSantis said supporting Israel's war against Hamas was more critical for US tax dollars than supporting Ukraine, calling Israel "our strongest ally in the Middle East," and his campaign launched a "Ron DeSantis Stands with Israel" page detailing his record, per The Hill.
- June 30, 2025: DeSantis signed SB 1678, expanding Florida's anti-BDS law to cover academic boycotts, require state divestment from boycotting entities, and mandate anti-discrimination certifications for arts and cultural grant applicants. StandWithUs called it the nation's strongest state-level anti-BDS law, according to Florida Politics and StandWithUs.
- April 2026: DeSantis proposed a Florida congressional redistricting plan that would target four seats currently held by pro-Israel Democrats, drawing concern from some Jewish leaders that it could remove moderating pro-Israel voices from the Democratic caucus. Jewish Insider reported this is a partisan, electoral move rather than an anti-Israel one, but it complicates a simple pro-Israel narrative.
Context: a governor building a record, not a single moment
DeSantis, born in 1978, has served as Florida's Republican governor since 2019 and ran unsuccessfully for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. His Israel-related actions cluster around three areas: material and logistical support to Israel and stranded American citizens immediately after October 7, 2023, funded and coordinated at the state level; an aggressive campus response, including the SJP deactivation order (which was legally contested and only partially enforced according to later reporting) and the Jewish-student transfer waiver; and legislative action, culminating in the June 2025 anti-BDS expansion. He has repeatedly framed Israel as central to "Western civilization" and prioritized it rhetorically over Ukraine aid during his presidential run. He is not Jewish, and no verified reporting ties him to Jewish ancestry, conversion, or family heritage. The April 2026 redistricting story is worth flagging for balance: it shows DeSantis using "help pro-Israel Democrats" language even while pursuing a map that would remove several of them from Congress, a partisan tactic rather than a reversal of his pro-Israel record.
The bottom line
Ron DeSantis supports Israel through a substantial, verifiable record: direct state material aid after October 7, 2023, campus antisemitism policy, and the strongest state anti-BDS law in the country, signed June 2025. He has not participated in any boycott of Israel; on the contrary, his signature legislative achievement in this space is anti-boycott law. He has no personal Jewish-identity connection himself, but he has been a consistent political ally on Israel and antisemitism issues through mid-2026.
Wear your own answer
Whatever you make of any one politician's record, plenty of people want to state their own support for Israel plainly and every day, not just when a news cycle asks. Our I Stand With Israel collection is built for exactly that: simple, wearable pieces that say where you stand without needing a headline to explain it.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
