The election of Zohran Mamdani as the next mayor of New York City is a historic moment for the United States, the citizens of New York, and Jews worldwide - especially in Israel.
Mamdani is a talented politician with an easy facility with words. He is young and charismatic. He speaks to his generation on the issues that matter most to them, and mobilized them to get to the polls.
It is quite remarkable that a 34-year-old politician with no experience in management - a socialist and an anti-Zionist - won the top job of the most complicated political bureaucracy in the United States, in the most capitalistic city in the history of civilization, and where more Jews live than any other city in the world.
Mamdani’s victory poses severe challenges to the Jews of New York and throughout the United States. I met Mr. Mamdani at the end of August, along with several other New York City rabbis.
I wanted to take the measure of the man. He emphasized to us that he will fight antisemitism and continue police security around Jewish institutions. I took him at face value. He did not strike me as a person who wanted to harm New York Jews. And, besides, it would not be in his political interests - heaven forbid - for a Jewish institution to be attacked. A line would be drawn directly back to the reduction of police presence.
That said, Mayor-elect Mamdani is an ideologically driven anti-Zionist. It is this that I fear the most. As a teenage college student, he co-founded Bowdoin’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, a rabid anti-Zionist organization. He has emphasized time and again that he does not believe that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state.
The history of the Zionist movement establishes that wherever government-supported anti-Zionism is normalized, hostility to Jews increases. All the more so in New York City, where most of the established Jewish community is strongly supportive of Israel and considers itself Zionist.
Atmosphere towards Jews will become increasingly hostile
So, while police security around Jewish institutions may not be reduced, the atmosphere in New York City will become increasingly hostile to individual Jews, Jewish institutions, and Judaism itself. It will not happen overnight.
But I fear that life in New York City will become more difficult and dangerous for individual Jews and the Jewish community.
This moment also has important implications for Jews outside New York. It is time for Israel to wake up. While the war was one of no choice, and while Israel’s military accomplishments were consequential, they came at a very high price.
Israel’s standing, reputation, and even legitimacy have taken a huge hit in the West. Western cultural institutions are already strongly critical of Israel and increasingly promote boycotts of Israeli artists and academics. And now, anti-Israel attitudes are encroaching on the mainstream political establishments, in both the Democratic and Republican parties.
It is true that the mayor of New York City does not have much authority over foreign affairs, but Mamdani’s mayoralty is likely to contribute to the further marginalization of Israel. It is not only in the various steps he has promised to take - like arresting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he travels to New York, not marching in the Israel Day Parade, or eliminating Cornell’s partnership with the Technion.
More important are the people Mayor-elect Mamdani will appoint. Who will lead the Department of Education, overseeing the public schools where one million young New Yorkers study? What will they learn about Zionism, Israel, and the Palestinian conflict? I fear that the constant flow of anti-Israel statements that will come from the highest levels of New York City government will continue to undermine Israel’s mainstream support in the United States, and marginalize the Zionist idea and Judaism itself.
Of course, Israel must consider its own national interests in pursuing policies and the conduct of wars. At the same time, it is critical to evaluate the effect of Israeli governmental policy and the rhetoric of its ministers on the support Israel receives in the United States.
My message to Israeli policymakers is that Mamdani’s election is another wake-up call. At the end of the day, it is Israel’s reputation as a Western democracy and its affinity with Western values that generate political, military, diplomatic and economic support.
It is possible that these worst fears of the Jewish community will not come to pass: that as mayor, Mamdani will govern pragmatically, and avoid squandering political capital on unnecessary fights with the Jewish community. I hope that he will be so oriented. As for the Jewish community: we will seek to work with him where we can and oppose him when we must.
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is the senior rabbi of New York City’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. •