By Berl Falbaum
The result of the mayoral primary election in New York City on June 24 should worry all Jews in the U.S. whether they live in the northwest corner of Seattle or diagonally across the country in the Florida Keys.
I’m confident that prompts the question: “But I don’t live in New York City, so why should I care?”
Before we respond, some background and a word on the outcome.
New York City has the highest population of Jews outside of Israel (about 1.4 million). Its Jewish population is larger than in Jerusalem which is just under 1 million. (Some 13,000 Holocaust survivors live in the eight-county area, 92 percent of them in New York City.)
It is in this demographic political environment that Zohran Mamdani, a New York State assemblyman, won the Democratic primary for mayor, and is now the overall favorite in the November general election.
He easily defeated Andrew Cuomo, the former scandal-plagued New York governor — by 12 percentage points. He will face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams who is running as an independent and may also compete against Cuomo who has yet to decide whether to run, like Adams, as an independent.
Mamdani won despite a vitriolic anti-Israel, anti-Jewish (I am working hard not to use “antisemitic”) agenda which includes the following:
—He continually dodged the question about the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. When asked repeatedly, he used a formulaic response, stating Israel “has a right to exist as a state with equal rights.”
(Incidentally, no other country on the planet is or has ever been challenged about its right to exist.)
—On October 8, 2023, one day after the most violent slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani condemned Israel for “occupation and apartheid,” without a mention of Hamas, the terrorist organization that committed the butchery.
— On October 13, just six days after the attack, Mamdani and his supporters held a rally outside then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s house “to speak out against the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians as we sit on the brink of a genocide.” (Schumer is Jewish).
—He has refused to criticize the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which, in effect, calls for violence against Jews around the world, and he refused to do so after violent attacks on Jews in Colorado and Washington, D.C.
Asked on “Meet the Press” (June 28) why he doesn’t condemn that phrase, Mamdani said he does not want to “police speech.” No one asking him to police speech. He can defend hate speech as a constitutional right (hardly a benevolent policy) while denouncing it.
—Mamdani supports BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) which calls for companies, governments, public and private institutions to end business relationships with Israel.
In defense of BDS, Mamdani said: “I think it is legitimate movement when you are seeking to find compliance with international law and I think we have seen the Israel government out of compliance with international law.”
—While attending Bowdoin College in Maine in the 2010s, Mamdani organized a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. Thus, he was anti-Israel long before the war in Gaza.
—He was one of five state lawmakers who refused to sign two resolutions, one condemning the Holocaust and the other honoring Israel.
—He has repeatedly accused Israel of “genocide” and pledged, if elected mayor, to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli leader were to visit New York.
—He participated in an interview with Hasan Piker, who described Orthodox Jews as “in bred” and called a critic of the October 7 assault a “bloodthirsty pig.”
Asked about his appearance with Piker, Mamdani replied: “I am willing to speak to each and every person about this campaign, and I’ve said that from the beginning.”
In summary, John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine, wrote:
“He is…an implicit celebrator of anti-Jewish violence and antisemitic evil. He did not moderate his views or his position as he ran for office here.”
(None of this implies that Israel should be immune from criticism or intended to justify the racist attacks against Mamdani who is a Muslim.)
Now, to the question posed above: Why should Jews not living in New York City be concerned? Answer: For two reasons.
First, politicians throughout the country will study his campaign and conclude that anti-Israel, anti-Jewish policies are good politics. After all, Mamdani was the underdog going into the campaign and defeated a once powerful politician who had treasured name recognition.
Democratic officeholders in New York already have rallied around him after reading the political tea leaves. Even Jewish ones like Schumer and New York Congressman Jerrod Nadler. Instead of decrying the result. Schumer congratulated Mamdani (while holding back outright endorsement) but Nadler expressed his strong support. If there ever was a shanda (Jewish for scandalously shameful), this is it.
In addition, three powerful unions have switched their support from Cuomo to Mandani while Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, while, like Schumer, not endorsing Mamdani yet, have congratulated him.
Second, if Mamdani can win with such a platform in a city where Jews make up a large percentage of the population and electorate, politicians will surmise they could do even better since the Jewish population in their cities, districts or states would be much less, perhaps even none existent.
Even if candidates face a Jewish electorate, they may not consider it as powerful as they had believed.
The major point: Mamdani’s primary victory is much more than a matter of urban politics, much more than about collecting garbage or making sure buses run on time.
Israelis need to worry as well because Mamdani will have a major and powerful platform with which to spread and influence his anti-Israel, anti-Jewish politics.
None of this bodes well for Jews who have witnessed a continued rise in antisemitism in the U.S. since the October 7 massacre.
Jill Kargman, actress and author, described Mamdani’s election as a “spiritual Kristallnacht,” The reference to Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) is to November 9, 1938 when Germans exploded against Jews, burning Jewish businesses, synagogues, hospitals, arresting thousands, and killing hundreds. Some historians cite Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust.
For those who accuse worried Jews of needlessly “crying wolf,” they must be reassured by Mamdani vowing after his primary victory that he will not “abandon my beliefs” about “what happens overseas.”
————————
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books.
The result of the mayoral primary election in New York City on June 24 should worry all Jews in the U.S. whether they live in the northwest corner of Seattle or diagonally across the country in the Florida Keys.
I’m confident that prompts the question: “But I don’t live in New York City, so why should I care?”
Before we respond, some background and a word on the outcome.
New York City has the highest population of Jews outside of Israel (about 1.4 million). Its Jewish population is larger than in Jerusalem which is just under 1 million. (Some 13,000 Holocaust survivors live in the eight-county area, 92 percent of them in New York City.)
It is in this demographic political environment that Zohran Mamdani, a New York State assemblyman, won the Democratic primary for mayor, and is now the overall favorite in the November general election.
He easily defeated Andrew Cuomo, the former scandal-plagued New York governor — by 12 percentage points. He will face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams who is running as an independent and may also compete against Cuomo who has yet to decide whether to run, like Adams, as an independent.
Mamdani won despite a vitriolic anti-Israel, anti-Jewish (I am working hard not to use “antisemitic”) agenda which includes the following:
—He continually dodged the question about the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. When asked repeatedly, he used a formulaic response, stating Israel “has a right to exist as a state with equal rights.”
(Incidentally, no other country on the planet is or has ever been challenged about its right to exist.)
—On October 8, 2023, one day after the most violent slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani condemned Israel for “occupation and apartheid,” without a mention of Hamas, the terrorist organization that committed the butchery.
— On October 13, just six days after the attack, Mamdani and his supporters held a rally outside then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s house “to speak out against the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians as we sit on the brink of a genocide.” (Schumer is Jewish).
—He has refused to criticize the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which, in effect, calls for violence against Jews around the world, and he refused to do so after violent attacks on Jews in Colorado and Washington, D.C.
Asked on “Meet the Press” (June 28) why he doesn’t condemn that phrase, Mamdani said he does not want to “police speech.” No one asking him to police speech. He can defend hate speech as a constitutional right (hardly a benevolent policy) while denouncing it.
—Mamdani supports BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) which calls for companies, governments, public and private institutions to end business relationships with Israel.
In defense of BDS, Mamdani said: “I think it is legitimate movement when you are seeking to find compliance with international law and I think we have seen the Israel government out of compliance with international law.”
—While attending Bowdoin College in Maine in the 2010s, Mamdani organized a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. Thus, he was anti-Israel long before the war in Gaza.
—He was one of five state lawmakers who refused to sign two resolutions, one condemning the Holocaust and the other honoring Israel.
—He has repeatedly accused Israel of “genocide” and pledged, if elected mayor, to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli leader were to visit New York.
—He participated in an interview with Hasan Piker, who described Orthodox Jews as “in bred” and called a critic of the October 7 assault a “bloodthirsty pig.”
Asked about his appearance with Piker, Mamdani replied: “I am willing to speak to each and every person about this campaign, and I’ve said that from the beginning.”
In summary, John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine, wrote:
“He is…an implicit celebrator of anti-Jewish violence and antisemitic evil. He did not moderate his views or his position as he ran for office here.”
(None of this implies that Israel should be immune from criticism or intended to justify the racist attacks against Mamdani who is a Muslim.)
Now, to the question posed above: Why should Jews not living in New York City be concerned? Answer: For two reasons.
First, politicians throughout the country will study his campaign and conclude that anti-Israel, anti-Jewish policies are good politics. After all, Mamdani was the underdog going into the campaign and defeated a once powerful politician who had treasured name recognition.
Democratic officeholders in New York already have rallied around him after reading the political tea leaves. Even Jewish ones like Schumer and New York Congressman Jerrod Nadler. Instead of decrying the result. Schumer congratulated Mamdani (while holding back outright endorsement) but Nadler expressed his strong support. If there ever was a shanda (Jewish for scandalously shameful), this is it.
In addition, three powerful unions have switched their support from Cuomo to Mandani while Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, while, like Schumer, not endorsing Mamdani yet, have congratulated him.
Second, if Mamdani can win with such a platform in a city where Jews make up a large percentage of the population and electorate, politicians will surmise they could do even better since the Jewish population in their cities, districts or states would be much less, perhaps even none existent.
Even if candidates face a Jewish electorate, they may not consider it as powerful as they had believed.
The major point: Mamdani’s primary victory is much more than a matter of urban politics, much more than about collecting garbage or making sure buses run on time.
Israelis need to worry as well because Mamdani will have a major and powerful platform with which to spread and influence his anti-Israel, anti-Jewish politics.
None of this bodes well for Jews who have witnessed a continued rise in antisemitism in the U.S. since the October 7 massacre.
Jill Kargman, actress and author, described Mamdani’s election as a “spiritual Kristallnacht,” The reference to Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) is to November 9, 1938 when Germans exploded against Jews, burning Jewish businesses, synagogues, hospitals, arresting thousands, and killing hundreds. Some historians cite Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust.
For those who accuse worried Jews of needlessly “crying wolf,” they must be reassured by Mamdani vowing after his primary victory that he will not “abandon my beliefs” about “what happens overseas.”
————————
Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books.
