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EXCLUSIVE: Jewish leaders and advocates have criticized 33-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani since he secured the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, particularly for his refusal to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada.”
“If Zohran Mamdani is elected, expect a Jewish exodus out of New York City,” Yuval David, an actor, filmmaker and Jewish activist and advisor, told Fox News Digital.
David, who recently moved from New York City to Washington, D.C., said more Jewish New Yorkers are thinking about leaving the city due to the rise of antisemitism. New York City is home to the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel.
According to data from New York State’s Office of Budget Policy and Analysis, “In 2023, nearly 44 percent of all recorded hate crime incidents and 88 percent of religious-based hate crimes targeted Jewish victims, the largest share of all such crimes.” In New York City alone, anti-Jewish hate crimes rose by 81% between 2023 and 2024, according to the NYPD’s crime report.
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“We’ve seen it with Jewish businesses being attacked, we’ve seen heightened security at Jewish synagogues and Jewish schools, and this will just continue to spread at unprecedented levels with Mamdani,” David warned.
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During the primary campaign, Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada” and recognize Israel as a Jewish state triggered accusations that he was antisemitic. Mamdani has repeatedly denied those claims and affirmed his commitment to condemning the rise of antisemitism in New York City.
But David said Mamdani’s sponsorship of a controversial bill, “Not on Our Dime! Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” in the New York State Assembly undermines his sentiment.
David said the bill would “prohibit New York-based nonprofits from funding Israeli organizations, which basically means every major Jewish organization, because every major Jewish organization is connected to Israel. So this is a specific target on Jewish organizations that support Israel under the guise of regulating foreign military aid.”
The Jewish advocate explained that this bill is in the “name of being anti-Israel” but actually targets the Jewish community.
“Trying to prevent any organization from being connected to Israel is going to be to the detriment of every Jewish community in New York City,” David said.
Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding in New York City and founding senior rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue, explained, “Anti-Zionism is the latest form of antisemitism, and anti-Zionism denies Jews the right to self-defense. Anti-Zionism denies the historical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel.”
While anti-Zionism has become a rejection of Israel’s war in Gaza among the pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted at Columbia University, and other college campuses across the country, David described Zionism as a “nationalist movement.”
“Anti-Zionism is the latest form of antisemitism, and antisemitism would trigger a mass exodus of Jews out of New York if we were not successful in identifying and supporting the candidate to defeat Mamdani,” Schneier explained.
Schneier called himself a “great supporter of Andrew Cuomo,” the former New York governor who has decided to run as an independent in the mayoral election after losing to Mamdani in the primary last month. The rabbi also said he has hosted Mayor Eric Adams at his congregation.
And David said Cuomo, Adams and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa “are all allies to the Jewish community.” But both Jewish leaders said they are worried about these candidates splitting the vote, benefiting Mamdani.
“In the face of a candidate who is an extremist or fanatic, antisemitism and socialist, we must raise our voices in screaming protests, and moderation is simply not enough in terms of how we must respond, and how the Jewish community must respond to this existential threat,” Schneier said.
When asked if there was anything Mamdani could do to ease the concerns of Jewish New Yorkers, David was clear: “Drop out.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for a response but did not immediately hear back.
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