Anti-Israel mayor challenges New York's Jewish community future - opinion

A big-city mayor virulently opposed to Israel? One who questions not only its policies but its birthright?

Maybe in Seattle. Perhaps Minneapolis. Possibly Portland.

But New York? Impossible.

After all, New York is home to the largest Jewish community in the world outside Israel, and IT IS deeply involved in every aspect of the city’s life. Until 2025, every mayor was an outspoken supporter of Israel. And Jewish institutions galore call New York home, while celebrating the vast network of links with Israeli society.

He was helped by some lucky breaks. Incumbent mayor Eric Adams was unpopular, becoming one of the few one-term city leaders in recent history. The other leading contenders proved weak. Former governor Andrew Cuomo and perennial Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa turned off many voters. Still, together they got nearly 50%of the vote. However, as neither would drop out to form a united front, they made Mamdani’s winning strategy that much easier.

And he did so without softening or downplaying his anti-Israel animus. In fact, as he himself has said on more than one occasion, it’s at the core of his identity.

In reality, Mamdani should have been vulnerable as a candidate.

First, he had zero experience running a complex institution, much less America’s largest, most important city.

Second, his math didn’t add up. He made promises of lots of giveaways and freebies but offered no coherent plan for how to pay for everything – except throwaway lines about soaking the rich, as if they had nowhere else to go.

Third, he was outspokenly anti-police, calling for defunding law enforcement and replacing some officers with social workers, in a city where crime and lawlessness are daily concerns.

And fourth, were a majority of voters really ready to throw Israel under the bus and, in doing so, confront their Jewish neighbors, and many other New Yorkers, who felt connected to the relationship?

Obviously, none of these factors saved the day. Mamdani’s core coalition, an offshoot of the red-green alliance – uniting leftists and Islamists – prevailed.

They were helped by voters who decided that drastic change was appealing, youthfulness was a plus, slick TikTok videos substituted for serious political platforms, and the history of failed socialist experiments – from which countless New Yorkers escaped – was irrelevant.

Notably, Mamdani supporters included some Jews, who, “as Jews,” served as character references for the candidate. They included retiring Congressman Jerry Nadler, outgoing City Comptroller Brad Lander, former Manhattan Borough president Ruth Messinger, and actor Mandy Patinkin. In the end, according to exit polls, as many as 30% of Jewish voters cast their ballots for Mamdani.

So, what’s next for the Jewish community?

The paralyzing shock needs an expiration date. Defeatism is not an answer. Kvetching goes nowhere. And hope for magical change isn’t a strategy when dealing with a true believer.

While some New York Jews may opt to leave the city, the vast majority will likely stay.

• Jewish community leaders need to understand why so many Jews, mostly younger, chose to support a candidate whose hostility toward Israel was integral to his identity. Either that actually had appeal for some Jewish voters or, at a minimum, wasn’t a deal breaker. Alarm bells ought to be going off about how this could have happened.

• Jewish institutions must beef up security. Mamdani’s assurances that he will fight antisemitism ring hollow to many, especially when he wouldn’t unconditionally condemn an assault on Park East Synagogue, which was hosting an event on aliyah, and on day one repealed his predecessor’s executive orders on defining antisemitism and boycotting Israel.

• Intensified coordination among Jewish groups with both the federal and state governments, as well as well-disposed officials in New York City, is needed to try to limit the scope of the mayor’s reach, such as when Mamdani calls for the arrest of Israel’s prime minister should he visit New York. So, too, the vigorous use of lawfare when the mayor may violate civil rights protections for Jews.

• The demographic makeup of New York has changed dramatically in recent years. Vast new communities have emerged that have little contact with the city’s Jewish population; they form views of Israel largely through social media, houses of worship, or the dynamics of intersectionality. Jewish community relations groups must make outreach efforts a top priority.

• It is not too soon, in discussion with other like-minded communities, to start planning for the next mayoral campaign in 2029. Mamdani must face a formidable opponent, not squabbling challengers who put their egos ahead of the city’s well-being.

• And rather than go into hiding or lay low, mainstream New York Jews ought to be loud and proud. The annual Salute to Israel Parade in the spring needs to be bigger than ever. And elected officials, including the state’s governor, senators, members of Congress, and local leaders, should be urged to lead the parade.

If there’s to be a theme for the Jewish community in the Mamdani era, let it be: Resourcefulness. Resilience. Resistance.■