Since 33-year-old socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani secured the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, he has come under fire from leaders and supporters of the vast Jewish community, both local and beyond, particularly for refusing 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 to Washington, DC, said that more and more Jews are considering leaving the city due to rising anti-Semitism. New York is home to the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel.
According to data from the state’s Office of Budget Policy and Analysis, in 2023, nearly 44% of all recorded hate crimes and 88% of religiously motivated hate crimes targeted Jewish victims. In the city, such crimes increased by 81% between 2023 and 2024, according to a NYPD report.
During the primary campaign, Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada” and to recognize Israel as a Jewish state sparked accusations of anti-Semitism against him. However, the mayoral candidate repeatedly denied these accusations and reiterated his commitment to condemning the rise of violence against Jewish people.
At the same time, David pointed out that Mamdani sponsored a controversial bill, the “Not on Our Dime! Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” which “prohibits New York-based nonprofits from funding Israeli organizations, which basically means every major Jewish organization, because every major Jewish organization is connected to Israel.”
Rabbi Marc Schneier, founder of the Hampton Synagogue, expressed similar sentiments: “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. Anti-Zionism denies the historical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel.”
Schneier described himself as a “big supporter of Andrew Cuomo,” the former governor of New York who decided to run as an independent in the mayoral election after losing to Mamdani in last month’s Democratic primary, despite polls showing him as the favorite. The rabbi also said he had hosted Mayor Eric Adams, another contender in the mayoral race, in his congregation.
