Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be quaking in his boots at the decisive victory of Zohran Mamdani in the 4 November New York City mayoral election. Not because of absurd allegations of antisemitism for which there is no evidence, but because Mamdani has broken the longstanding taboo for successful New York candidates against criticizing the Israeli government. And he has only reinforced his approach in the month since his election.
New York has the largest Jewish population in the United States – and the second-largest of any city in the world after Tel Aviv. The longstanding assumption was that many Jewish voters prioritized the defense of the Israeli government over other issues, so criticism of Israel would set them against a politician.
Mamdani blew that assumption out of the water. During the campaign he spoke accurately and openly about the genocide that Israel was committing in Gaza. He insisted that all residents of Israel should have equal rights. He said he would arrest Netanyahu were he to show up in New York. Yet one-third of New York’s Jewish voters cast a ballot for him. As did many others.
Some Jews may have been uncomfortable with Mamdani’s criticism of Israel but liked other aspects of his candidacy, such as his relentless focus on affordability. Others, myself included, were attracted by his candor on such an important issue as Israel. Many were also probably appalled by the efforts of Mamdani’s principal opponent, Andrew Cuomo, to tar Mamdani with fact-free allegations of antisemitism.
Mamdani has only continued his openness on Israel since the election. In his remarkably friendly meeting with Donald Trump in the White House on 21 November, Mamdani repeated his genocide views and noted that the US government was funding it. Trump let the comment slide without a response.
After a major Manhattan synagogue hosted a group that was encouraging American Jews to emigrate not only to Israel (a normal enough appeal) but also to Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank, Mamdani noted the illegality of the settlements. That is an accurate reflection of article 49 of the fourth Geneva convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its population to occupied territory.
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