As early voting continues within the 2025 NYC Mayor’s race, greater than 1,000 rabbis from throughout the nation have publicly voiced their opposition to Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy, expressing their issues in an open letter.
The non secular leaders shared their views on why they consider Mamdani is unfit to grow to be the chief of New York Metropolis, which has the biggest Jewish inhabitants of anywhere outdoors Israel.
The letter, signed final week, is titled A Rabbinic Name to Motion: Defending the Jewish Future. It touches on subjects together with the “political normalization” of anti-Zionism, violent verbiage, and denials of Israel’s legitimacy — and criticized Mamdani for serving to to propagate a hostile atmosphere for Jewish New Yorkers.
“When public figures like New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani refuse to condemn violent slogans, deny Israel’s legitimacy, and accuse the Jewish state of genocide, they, in the words of New York Board of Rabbis president Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, ‘Delegitimize the Jewish community and encourage and exacerbate hostility toward Judaism and Jews,’” the letter states.
Hirsch, who leads the Stephen Sensible Free Synagogue on Manhattan’s Higher West Aspect, mentioned he signed the letter as a result of he has grow to be more and more involved about Mamdani’s opinions on the “delegitimization of Israel.”
The rabbi made it clear that not everybody who criticizes the Israeli authorities is antisemitic. However what Mamdani believes, he mentioned, shouldn’t be about coverage or authorities.
“It’s completely legitimate to criticize any policy of any government,” Hirsch mentioned. “What Zohran Mamdani believes, however, is not a disagreement on policies as strongly as he may think. It is a disagreement on the very existence of the state of Israel. He’s a proud anti-Zionist.”
Hirsch, consulting historical past, defined that anti-Zionism results in antisemitism and different types of hate.
“If you study the history of anti-Zionism over the past, say, century and a quarter, in every single case, as night follows day, where anti-Zionism is normalized, it leads to antisemitism, an intensification of antisemitism, without exception,” the rabbi defined.
Regrets? Mamdani doesn’t say
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran MamdaniPhoto by Jonathan Portee
In the course of the closing 2025 NYC mayoral debate on Oct. 22, moderators requested Mamdani if he had regrets about how he has handled points concerning Israel and Jewish New Yorkers persevering with to really feel unsafe after acts of antisemitism skyrocketed following the beginning of warfare on Oct. 7, 2023.
Mamdani didn’t reply as to whether he had any regrets about his statements or views on Israel, however mentioned he can be a mayor for all New Yorkers.
“That includes Jewish New Yorkers who may have concerns or opposition to the positions that I’ve shared about Israel and Palestine,” he mentioned on the controversy stage.
In the course of the Oct. 22 debate, the candidate added that he would “deliver on the implementation” of the Hidden Voices curriculum, a public faculty social research program that helps college students study numerous tales of individuals in U.S. historical past, “so children in this city learn about the beauty and the breadth of the Jewish experience.” No additional clarification was offered on how the curriculum can be carried out.
New York News contacted Mamdani’s marketing campaign workforce for touch upon this story and is awaiting a response.
Rabbis supporting Cuomo
Rabbi Michael Miller, a longtime New Yorker who usually travels between the Huge Apple and Israel, mentioned he helps the letter, in addition to former Gov. and impartial candidate Andrew Cuomo for mayor — a sentiment he says he has heard from different rabbis.
“The vast majority of the rabbis that have communicated with me vocally stated that they are going to be pushing Andrew Cuomo’s candidacy,” Miller mentioned. “I think that is extraordinarily important at this juncture, considering we are only a few days away from the election. We need to turn the tide here. Cuomo has increased his percentage numbers in the polls, and Mamdani has remained pretty stagnant.”
Hirsch, who has met with Mamdani about subjects regarding Jewish New Yorkers, mentioned he has not but heard from the candidate’s marketing campaign for the reason that letter was despatched.
One other signature on the letter is from Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, of Kehilath Jeshurun on Manhattan’s Higher East Aspect. Steinmetz not solely signed the letter but additionally urged the NYC Jewish group to help Cuomo.
The rabbi mentioned he has by no means endorsed a candidate earlier than, however felt compelled to take action, citing a “general threat” that Mamdani poses to NYC.
“Since the spring, I’ve been sounding the alarm about Mamdani’s candidacy in sermons, videos, and interviews,” Steinmetz mentioned. “Mamdani is obsessed with Israel, which has been his focus since his earliest involvement in politics. In the Assembly, nearly every one of Mamdani’s foreign policy statements has attacked Israel.”
Like Rabbi Hirsch, Steinmetz has not obtained a response from the Mamdani marketing campaign to the letter.
In the meantime, Hirsch appealed to the Mamdani marketing campaign in a public video, urging the candidate to rethink his “long-held views” of Israel’s proper to exist.
“These views are profoundly immoral and are a political dead end,” Hirsch mentioned. “They have increased both Israeli and Palestinian suffering and have distanced the dawn of a new day of coexistence and peace.”
Finally, as many polls present Mamdani forward within the race for mayor, Hirsch mentioned he would love the candidate to work towards uniting Jews, Palestinians and supporters of each peoples in NYC and the world over.
“Be a uniter and a peacemaker,” Hirsch mentioned within the video, directed towards Mamdani. “Neither Israel nor the Palestinians is going anywhere. Fantasies of eliminating one or the other are harmful delusions unbecoming of responsible political leaders.”
