Why the Fear of Mamdani? Is it Justified?
66% of the New York Jews voted for Andrew Cuomo while 33% voted for Zohran Mamdani. It seems quite clear that many of those who voted for Cuomo voted out of fear of Mamdani, and not out of support for the former governor, who carries with him some very problematic baggage that forced his resignation as governor of New York.
Cuomo got 66% of the Jewish vote, while Mamdani got 33% (Photo: Times of Israel)
Conservative Rabbi Cosgrave of the Park Avenue Synagogue said this was because Mamdani “refuses to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state”, had not condemned the phrase “globalize the intifada” and uses the term “genocide” to describe what is happening in Gaza, all of which he considers to be inflammatory rhetoric that normalizes hostility “towards Judaism and Jews”. Reform Rabbi Amiel Hirsch of the Stephen Weiss Free Synagogue said that Mamdani’s rhetoric “delegitimizes the Jewish community and encourages and exacerbates hostility toward Judaism and Jews.” Both rabbis are considered liberal and have expressed serious opposition towards the Netanyahu government’s policies and towards Trump’s policies in the U.S. It’s clear that their statements contributed to and reflected the fear that many New York Jews felt. The Israeli press also highlighted that fear, with TV and print media interviews with Israelis living in New York who said if Mamdani was elected they might chose to move to New Jersey or Florida.
Is Mamdani really opposed to Israel’s right to exist?
But is the fear justified? First of all the two rabbis totally ignored the fact that Mamdani formed an alliance with New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, the highest ranking Jew in the municipal government, a self-proclaimed liberal Zionist like themselves and the opening speaker in his last campaign rally. In addition, Mamdani has clearly criticized Hamas, and welcomed the invitation to participate in the vigil organized by the New York-based Israelis for Peace in memory of the 1,200 Israelis killed by Hamas on October 7th, 2023 on the 2nd anniversary of the horrific attack. And Mamdani is not saying that the State of Israel doesn’t have a right to exist. He is saying that it should be a state in the spirit of the 1948 Declaration of Independence, https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/about/pages/declaration.aspx that guarantees equal rights for all its citizens. A state which guarantees “to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel…full and equal citizenship…” and not a state according to the 2018 Nation State Law which makes all non-Jews 2nd class citizens: https://main.knesset.gov.il/EN/activity/documents/BasicLawsPDF/BasicLawNationState.pdf In his speeches he clearly states that he is against the Israeli government and its policies, not the Israeli people. The truth is that according to all the polls, the majority of the Israeli people are also against the Israeli government and its policies.
As for “globalize the intifada”, Mamdani has said he understands that this is interpreted as being a call for violence against Israelis and Jews, and will discourage people from using the term.
Mamdani based his campaign on affordability, which Trump thought was a new word (Photo: Times of Israel)
The problem of the term “genocide”
The question of the use of the term “genocide” for describing the Israeli actions in Gaza is more complicated. While the International Court of Justice has not yet ruled on South Africa’s accusation against Israel about genocide in Gaza, many Holocaust and genocide scholars, along with leading human rights organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the leading Israeli human rights organization B’tselem have concluded that they meet the definition of genocide. Yet I understand Rabbi Cosgrave and Rabbi Hirsch’s reaction to the use of the term. Jews tend to associate the term genocide with numbers, 6 million Jews, 1/3 of the Jewish people killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust, in a clear plan of intent as described in the 1942 Wannasee Conference. While over 65,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, including at least 20,000 children under the age of 18, is a horrific number, it is not the same scale as the Holocaust. The question of genocidal intent is also not self-evident, despite quotes from some right-wing members of Knesset, including Netanyahu’s comment about the need “to remember Amalek”, which his office claimed he used as a metaphor for Hamas, given that the Bible instructed the Jews to “blot out the memory of Amalek”, to destroy the evil Amalekites. I believe that the Israeli actions in Gaza are horrific, and terribly disproportionate to the horrific Hamas killings on October 7th, but I prefer to use the term major war crime to genocide. Both Hamas and Israel are guilty of major war crimes. I also add the term domicide, the deliberate, widespread and systematic destruction of homes and living environment. At the same time, I understand that many people are using the term genocide for what is happening.
Estimates of between 70-80% of the buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. (Photo: Times of Israel).
As for Mamdani’s announcement that he would arrest Netanyahu in accordance with the International Court of Justice’s warrant to arrest him (and the leaders of Hamas) because of their war crimes, a significant percentage of the Israeli public thinks that Netanyahu should resign, and that the result of his ongoing trial should lead to a jail sentence as well.
DSA, a different movement from the days of Michael Harrington
Then there is the question of Mamdani’s membership in DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America. This is not the DSA of co-founder Michael Harrington, author of “The Other America” that inspired President Johnson’s war on poverty. Inspired by Israel’s socialist origins,
Michael Harrington co-founded DSA in 1982 (Photo: You Tube)
Harrington was a strong supporter of Israel’s right to exist, supported both the Jewish and the Palestinian right to national self-determination and the two-state solution, was inspired by Israel’s socialist beginnings, and had a secretary who today is a member of Kibbutz Ein Dor. Bernie Sanders also spent three months on a kibbutz in 1963, a formative experience in the development of his approach to democratic socialism. Today’s DSA calls Israel a result of “settler-colonialism”, supports “all forms of resistance” and the BDS movement which has had virtually no impact on the Israeli economy and frequently doesn’t distinguish between the occupation (which should be boycotted) and Israel proper. They even criticized DSA member AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) when she didn’t oppose a Congressional resolution in favor of American funding for the defensive Iron Dome system.
Unfortunately there are DSA members who oppose the State of Israel’s very right to exist even without the occupation, who attacked New York Jews who protested on behalf of the 251 hostages that were taken by Hamas on October 7th, and who tore up and defaced signs calling for the release of the hostages. These actions clearly upset many New York Jews, and did not exactly endear DSA to them.
At the same time, I understand that, inspired by democratic socialist Bernie Sanders campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, today’s DSA has attracted a significant number of idealistic young members. That is where Zohran Mamdani got his political start, and those young members formed a significant part of the 100,000 volunteers who worked for his election. DSA, along with Sanders and AOC, have also made the concept democratic socialism a legitimate idea in at least part of the American discourse, something as a democratic socialist myself and a former kibbutz member I welcome.
Bernie Sanders lived on Kibbutz Sha’ar Ha’amakim of the Hashomer Hatzair socialist-Zionist movement for 3 months in 1963 (Photo: The Times of Israel)
The generational divide
I realize that the 66% of the New York Jews who voted against Mamdani compared to the 33% who voted for him was also a generational breakdown. I experienced it in my own family. My kibbutz-born daughter who now lives in The Bronx, motivated by fears generated by the atmosphere surrounding Mamdani’s campaign and direct experiences of being criticized for her support of Israel and the hostages by former progressive allies, voted for Cuomo. While my New York-born grandson, a graduate with honors of the MPA program of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at CUNY, inspired by his campaign for an affordable New York City, voted for Mamdani. If I were living in New York today where I was born, despite the reservations I mentioned above, I also would have voted for Mamdani. Though Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa’s devotion to the 18 abandoned cats that his wife brought home is very praiseworthy. He managed to get 7.1% of the overall vote (3% of the Jewish vote), and his unwillingness to drop out of the race despite Trump’s demand and attempted bribes by the wealthy elite is very admirable.
New opportunities for Israeli-Palestinian peace
Now that the horrific two year Gaza War is hopefully over, there are new opportunities to move forward towards a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These opportunities are inherent in the 20 Point Plan, https://www.scribd.com/document/926533954/Trump-20-Point-Gaza-Peace-Plan the Sharm El-Sheikh Declaration https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/pdf/sharmel.pdf and the New York Declaration https://www.un.org/unispal/document/un-high-level-international-conference-new-york-declaration-29jul2025/, the product of the French-Saudi initiative for recognition of a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel. This is what Israelis, Palestinians and well-meaning people in New York should be promoting. These new opportunities create a possibility for the Palestinians to move forward towards freedom based on their legitimate right to national self-determination in a state of their own in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the updated 2002 Arab Peace Initiative which contains mutually agreed upon minimal one-to-one land swaps that would include 80% of the Jewish settlers in the West Bank https://www.kas.de/c/document_library/get_file?groupId=268421&uuid=a5dab26d-a2fe-dc66-8910-a13730828279. And all the plans listed above and the PLO itself have agreed that it would be a demilitarized Palestinian state without Hamas being in control of Gaza, alongside a sovereign and secure state of Israel. That is what should be focused on today. I understand that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is very open to dialogue with people who disagree with him. That readiness should be welcomed.
The Sharm El-Sheikh Declaration is one of the peace plans that is on the table. (Photo: You Tube)
.