You never know what lies around the corner.
Zohran Mamdani was an obscure New York assemblyman six months ago. Today, he is famous, his name splashed across newspaper headlines.
Mamdani is now poised to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor, having won a watershed election on November 4. He roared to victory by trouncing his weak opponents, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. He garnered 50.4 percent of the vote. Cuomo came in second with 41.6 percent and Sliwa ended up in third place with 7.1 percent.
The outgoing mayor of New York, Eric Adams, dropped out of the race weeks ago.
At 34, Mamdani will be New York’s youngest mayor in more than a century.
Born in Uganda, the son of East Indian parents, he will be New York City’s second naturalized American mayor after Abraham Beame, its first Jewish mayor. Beame, who was born in London, held office from 1974 to 1977.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, beat the odds in spite of his antipathy toward Israel and his affinity for the Palestinian cause.
At last count, the city’s five boroughs were home to almost one million Jews, representing about 12 percent of New York’s population of 8.2 million. The majority are staunchly pro-Israel.
On the eve of the election, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Jews to vote for Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani in the summer. “Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media site, labelling Mamdani as a communist.
Despite Trump’s admonition, and Mamdani’s position on Israel, 33 percent of Jews voted for Mamdani, according to a CNN exit poll released on November 5. Sixty three percent cast their ballot for Cuomo, the former governor of New York, and 3 percent for Republican Sliwa.
It was a remarkable outcome for Mamdani, though pundits were certain he would triumph.
As The New York Times noted a few weeks ago. “Mamdani’s unapologetically pro-Palestinian platform would once have been almost unimaginable for a leading mayoral candidate. Since Hamas’ October 7 attack tipped the region into all-out war, he has accused Israel of committing genocide, vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and said he could not support (Israel) as long as it is an officially Jewish state that gives lesser rights to Palestinians.”
Be that as it may, Mamdani, whose wife is a Syrian American, was backed by progressive and younger Jews as well as anti–Zionist Jews who regard his criticism of Israel as compatible with Jewish values of justice. Their endorsement was clearly a rebuke to Trump and his Republican policies.
Past and present Jewish politicians, such as Ruth Messinger, the former Manhattan borough president, and Brad Lander, the city comptroller, joined Mamdani’s camp early on.
Several prominent New York Democrats endorsed Mamdani, including Governor Kathy Hochul, Carl Heastie, the speaker of the State Assembly, and Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the U.S. Congress. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has did not publicly support him.
Liberal rabbis and cantors endorsed Mamdani. A letter signed by more than 250 stated, “We recognize that his support for Palestinian self-determination stems not from hate, but from his deep moral convictions.”
The letter defended Mamdani from attacks on his Muslim identity and argued that “Jewish safety cannot be built on Muslim vulnerability, nor can we combat hate against our community while turning away from hate against our neighbors.”
A number of Jewish celebrities, such as the actor Mandy Patinkin, backed Mamdani. Patinkin hailed him as “an extraordinary human being” who would “lead our city and eventually, if we’re really thinking, our nation and the world to a better, safer, all-inclusive existence.”
From the outset, however, most Jews harbored deep reservations about Mamdani’s candidacy.
The American Jewish Committee was “deeply troubled” by his “problematic rhetoric as it relates to Israel and Jews.” It cited three points: his repeated accusations that Israel committed genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war against Hamas, his refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and his “lack of consistent moral clarity on Hamas.” It accused Mamdani of ignoring “the perspectives and concerns of the vast majority of Jewish New Yorkers.”
Josh Shapiro, the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania, accused Mamdani of failing to condemn “blatantly antisemitic” rhetoric by extremists. Rahm Emmanuel, the former mayor of Chicago and President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, chided him for refusing to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which Mamdani has denied using.
Last month, 1,100 rabbis from around the country representing the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox streams of Judaism signed an open letter rejecting him. Citing his antagonistic attitude toward Israel, they voiced concern that, if elected, Mamdani would threaten “the safety and dignity of Jews in every city.”
“As rabbis from across the United States committed to the security and prosperity of the Jewish people, we are writing in our personal capacities to declare that we cannot remain silent in the face of rising anti-Zionism and its political normalization throughout our nation,” they wrote.
In a Shabbat sermon, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, the spiritual leader of the Upper East Side’s Park Avenue Synagogue, blasted Mamdani, saying he “poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community.”
Cosgrove cited Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “Globalize the intifada,” his refusal to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, his vows to arrest Netanyahu if he visited the city, and his accusations of genocide against Israel.
Halie Soifer, chief executive officer of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, a non-profit political advocacy organization, was just as emphatic. She declared that Mamdani, if elected, could “potentially give a green light to those who want to inflict harm on Jewish Americans.”
“I don’t think there’s a belief among Jews that he himself would be a perpetrator of violence,” she said, “but there’s a concern that his language is giving a permissive structure to those who may.”
She listed two issues that needed to be clarified by Mamdani in order to gain the trust of the Jewish community: his past support of an economic boycott of Israel and his definition of what constitutes an antisemitic hate crime.
Jonathan Tobin, a conservative online commentator, was bitterly dismissive of Mamdani.
As he wrote, “Mamdani’s support for the virulently antisemitic mobs that took over campuses at major New York institutions like Columbia University, New York University, various branches of the City University of New York and smaller-scale but consistent demonstrations at the New School is at the heart of his political identity. He stands for a point of view that delegitimizes and demonizes mainstream Jewish life. For him, only Jews who are willing to deny an essential element of Jewish identity, ethnicity and faith by disavowing Israel and Zionism deserve to be treated as worthy of being allowed into the public square and to be defended as equal citizens.”
The Israeli government jumped in to denounce Mamdani. In a statement on the second anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack in southern Israel, the Foreign Ministry branded him as “a mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda, notwithstanding his condemnation of Hamas’ massacre.”
In effect, the mayoralty race turned into a sounding board about antisemitism, anti-Zionism and the power of Jews in American politics.
In a debate last month, Cuomo and Sliwa both tried to vilify Mamdani as a threat to Jewish New Yorkers. Cuomo claimed that Mamdani “stokes the flames of hate against Jewish people,” while Sliwa said that his own sons, who are Jewish, were afraid.
During the campaign, Mamdani focused attention on affordability and quality of life issues. He promised free universal childcare, a freeze on rent in subsidized apartment units, free public bus transportation, and city-run grocery stores.
His message appealed to New Yorkers fed up with soaring prices.
He won the hearts and minds of many of the city’s approximately 700,000 Muslims and of a large number of African Americans and Latinos.
From the start, Mamdani said he was committed to representing Jewish New Yorkers and increasing funding to fight hate crimes. He accused his rivals of distorting his views.
Yet he was not hesitant to express his opinions about Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians.
This past June, in a sharp reference to Israel, he said, “I’m not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else.”
On October 7, he released a statement to mark the anniversary of Hamas’ massacre: “Two years ago today, Hamas carried out a horrific war crime, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping 250.” He called for the return of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Mamdani lashed out at the Israeli government, accusing it of having “launched a genocidal war” and reducing much of Gaza to rubble. He criticized the United States for being “complicit” and reiterated his long-held view that “the occupation and apartheid must end.”
Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian outlook was summarized by The New Yorker: “Mamdani belongs to a generation whose politics have been shaped by the Palestinian-rights movement. Throughout the campaign, he’s remained steadfast in his opposition to the war in Gaza and outspoken about his concern for Palestinians living under occupation. Critics have argued these views could sink his chances to win, pointing to potential reluctance among Zionist voters. But Mamdani and his advisers are confident that his position will be a strength. He likes to recite a line from the former mayor Ed Koch: ‘If you agree with me on nine out of twelve issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on twelve out of twelve, see a psychiatrist.”’
The Palestinian issue has indeed been an integral component of his political agenda since he entered politics.
As a state assemblyman, he sponsored a bill to prevent non-profit corporations from supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and he was arrested during a sit-in organized by the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace in front of Schumer’s house.
Mamdani credits his parents for having influenced him. As he said five years ago, “These are people to whom I owe everything — not simply the person that I am, but the thoughts that I have.”
His father, Mahmood, a Marxist and a professor at Columbia University, signed a faculty petition demanding Columbia’s divestment from companies selling weapons to Israel.
He has called for the creation of a secular democratic state in place of Israel as the only viable path forward: “The Palestinian challenge is to persuade the Jewish population of Israel and the world that, just as in South Africa, the long-term security of a Jewish homeland in historic Palestine requires the dismantling of the Jewish state.”
His mother, Mira, turned down an invitation to attend the 2013 Haifa International Film Festival, comparing Israel to South Africa during the apartheid era. “I will go to Israel when the walls come down,” she wrote. “I will go to Israel when occupation is gone.”
Mamdani’s parents mingled with Palestinians intellectuals such as Edward Said and Rashid Khalidi and introduced them to him. As a student, he was a founding member of Bowdoin College’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
As mayor, Mamdani is expected to continue his support of Palestinian aspirations. It remains to be seen what impact his views and actions will have on Jews in the city and the country.
Whatever one thinks of him, Mamdani is objectively a charismatic figure who may yet test his prospects in the national arena. It would not be surprising if he runs for the U.S. Senate under the Democratic Party banner in the future.
This would raise the question of where exactly the party stands with respect to Israel. In recent years, Israel’s standing in it has all but cratered.
Like Barack Obama prior to his ascent to the White House, Mamdani may even cast his eyes on the presidency one day.
One never knows what lies ahead.