Exhibit 31.1 

CERTIFICATION

I, Douglas S. Gordon, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q for thequarter ended September 30, 2008 of Waterstone Financial, Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain anyuntrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessaryto make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which suchstatements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by thisreport;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and otherfinancial information included in this report, fairly present in all materialrespects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of theregistrant as of, and for, the periods presented in thisreport;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I areresponsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal controlover financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and15d-15(f) for the registrant and have:

|   | a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or      caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our      supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the      registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us      by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which      this report is being prepared; |
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|   | b) | Designed such internal control over financial reporting,      or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed      under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the      reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial      statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted      accounting principles; |
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|   | c) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's      disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our      conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and      procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on      such evaluation; and |
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|   | d) | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s      internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the      registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal      quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or      is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal      control over financial reporting;and |
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5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I havedisclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control overfinancial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of theregistrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalentfunctions):

|   | a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in      the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which      are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to      record, process, summarize and report financial information;      and |
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|   | b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves      management or other employees who have a significant role in the      registrant's internal control over financial  reporting. |
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Date:  November 7, 2008

/s/ Douglas S. Gordon

Douglas S. Gordon

Chief Executive Officer