Zohran Mamdani’s historic win as New York’s Mayor has had mixed reviews from the Jewish and the Israeli population in the city. The 34-year-old is now leading a city with the highest Jewish population in the United States.
The self-described democratic socialist has been a vocal critic of Israel and its war on Gaza. He had accused the country of committing genocide against the Gazans, a claim also made by the United Nations and many human rights groups. He had also said that he would honour the ICC arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli media and Jewish groups have portrayed Mamdani as a far-left anti-Israel activist.
Mamdani has, however, rejected the accusations of anti-semitism made against him. He had acknowledged that the many in the community would disagree with his stances on Israel. However, he still vowed to fight anti-semitism as mayor. In his speech after his Mayoral race win, Mamdani said, “We will build a city hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism.”
New York City has the second-largest metropolitan Jewish community in the world, just after Tel Aviv, with over 1.3 million members.
In the speech, Mamdani also highlighted the Islamophobia that he and other Muslims in the US face. “Where the more than one million Muslims know that they belong — not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election,” he said in his victory speech.
Mamdani won the race by defeating Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the primaries. In contrast to Mamdani, Cuomo had made combating anti-semitism a central message of his campaign.
Reactions of Jewish communities to Mamdani’s win were mixed.
UJA-Federation of New York, in a statement, said that it would hold Mamdani "accountable" after his win.
“We recognise that voters are animated by a range of issues, but we cannot ignore that the mayor-elect holds core beliefs fundamentally at odds with our community’s deepest convictions and most cherished values,” the statement read. We will hold all elected officials, including Mayor-elect Mamdani, fully accountable for ensuring that New York remains a place where Jewish life and support for Israel are protected and can thrive,” it added.
Meanwhile Union for Reform Judaism, a Jewish movement in the United States, asked the community to “help lower the temperature, listen generously and take steps to promote healing.”
“Reasonable people across the political spectrum, and across the Jewish community, must aspire to respectfully disagree, and we will do our part to bring people together without erasing real differences,” it added.
Several polls had shown that 55 per cent of Jewish voters were likely to have backed Andrew Cuomo, while 32 per cent of Jewish voters supported Mamdani, CNN reported.
Election results showed that Mamdani led with about 57 per cent of votes from the Brooklyn borough over Cuomo, who had 37 per cent. Brooklyn has the highest Jewish population in all of New York City.