Zohran Mamdani ripped for refusing to recognize Israel as Jewish state: ‘Dangerous point of view'

New York Post

4 days ago

Jewish leaders condemned Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani Thursday for his repeated refusals to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state — slamming it as a disqualifying and 'dangerous' point of view.
'It's more than problematic,' said Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis. 'Jews see this as a dividing line.
4 Political and community leaders speak at a press conference outside of Columbia University on Thursday morning in support of reinstating a mask ban in New York State as incidents of antisemitism rise.
LP Media
Advertisement
'There are 22 Arab Muslim states,' Potasnik noted. 'In Mamdani's world, there isn't room for one Jewish state. He doesn't want a Jewish State.'
Mamdani, a pro-Palestinian state Assembly member from Queens who has supported the BDS movement to boycott Israel, has repeatedly been dogged by the issue as he campaigns for the Democratic mayoral nomination.
During Wednesday night's NBC 4 NY-Politico primary debate, Mamdani hedged and again refused to answer the question.
Advertisement
4 Mamdani has supported the BDS movement to boycott Israel.
fox5ny
'I believe Israel has a right to exist,' he said.
'As a Jewish state?' the moderator pressed.
'As a state with equal rights,' Mamdani replied.
Advertisement
But when Mamdani was asked to clarify during a Thursday morning interview on Fox 5's 'Good Day New York,' he said he opposes Israel's right to exist — as a Jewish state.
'Because I'm not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else,' he told anchor Rosanna Scotto.
4 Rabbi Joseph Potasnik speaks next to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Rev. Al Sharpton and New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch at the Center for Jewish History in New York City, U.S., May 22, 2025.
REUTERS
'In the way we have in this country, equality should be enshrined in every country in the world.'
Advertisement
Fellow Queens Assembly member Nily Rozic, who was born in Israel, said, 'He doesn't recognize the Jewish state and its right to exist — a method of dehumanizing the Jewish people and a way to sow unnecessary divisions in society.'
She added: 'That's a dangerous point of view for any elected official, let alone one who aspires to be mayor.'
Brooklyn Assemblyman Kalman Yeger, who is also Jewish, said that Mamdani's refusal to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state was not all that surprising.
'Not at all shocking that the most prominent antisemite running this year can't bring himself to acknowledge the right of the Jewish state to exist. His hatred for Jews is boundless,' Yeger said.
Democratic National Committee delegate from New York Robert Zimmerman, a pro-Israel Jew, said Mamdani's answer on 'Good Day' was chilling.
'Mamdani clearly disrespects the memory of the 6 million Jews lost in the Holocaust and further empowers those who engage in antisemitic rhetoric and violence,' Zimmerman told The Post.
Like the Democratic Socialists of America that back him, Mamdani is a staunch foe of Israel and even supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Jewish state.
Advertisement
4 Rabbi Joseph Potasnik speaks during a meeting of New York spiritual leaders Monday, Dec. 1, 2008, at City Hall, denouncing the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
N.Y. POST: CHAD RACHMAN
Jewish civil rights groups such as the Anti-Defamation League said the BDS movement smacks of antisemitism because it seeks to harm the world's only Jewish State.
Mamdani is running second in recent primary polls to ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo on Thursday was endorsed by the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance, the largest Orthodox Jewish group in Queens — a sign that the more conservative ultra-orthodox Jewish communities will back his candidacy.