I was very disappointed to read of the local rabbis who signed a letter condemning now-New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani and particularly of the remarks of one of the rabbis suggesting that opposing Israel is indistinguishable from antisemitism.
That rabbi stated that Mamdani is “anti-Jewish” apparently because Mamdani has denounced Israel’s war in Gaza, which many Jews like myself regard as criminal. A recent Washington Post poll found that a majority of American Jews believe Netanyahu’s government has committed war crimes in Gaza, so, by this rabbi’s lights, a majority of American Jews are anti-Jewish.
The rise of antisemitism is something we’re all concerned about, but as Avraham Burg, a former Speaker of the Knesset who endorsed Mamdani’s candidacy, said, “... one can be fiercely critical of Israel’s ultra right-wing government and the actions of the State of Israel while remaining firmly committed to the safety of New York’s Jewish residents.”
Mamdani has made just such a commitment, and I have no reason to doubt his sincerity. He has shown a willingness to engage with a broad spectrum of New York’s Jewish leaders, ranging from secular to Hasidic, Reform to ultra-Orthodox.
Moreover, he has stated repeatedly that Israel has a right to exist. What he opposes is Jewish supremacy, the idea codified by the 2018 Nation-State Law, which identifies the “Land of Israel” as territory in which only Jewish self-determination is permitted. I know many of my fellow Jews will disagree, but Jewish supremacy is a pernicious concept that has given rise to the likes of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers whose rabidly racist anti-Palestinian views are antithetical to the Jewish values I was brought up by my father, a rabbi in this community, to believe in.
We’ll see, once he assumes office on Jan. 1, whether Mamdani is the danger to the Jewish community that the rabbis make him out to be. My bet is that in a few years hence, they’ll come to realize that Mamdani, in his quest to improve the lives of all New Yorkers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, embodies what’s noblest in the Jewish tradition.