Portside

Israel was a hot topic in this week’s New York City’s Democratic mayoral race.

For some reason, amid discussions of proposed city policies, each candidate was asked what foreign country they would visit.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson, and former city comptroller Scott Stringer all said Israel. New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said she would travel to “the holy land,” which presumably means Israel.

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani said he would stay in New York and help New Yorkers, which prompted moderators to break their own lightning round rules and ask the only Muslim candidate if he would visit Israel. When he reiterated his choice to stay in New York City, he was asked “Yes or no, do you believe in a Jewish State of Israel.”

Mamdani said he believed in Israel’s right to exist, which wasn’t enough for the panel. “As a Jewish state?,” he was asked.

“As a state with equal rights,” he replied.

Mamdani extrapolated his position in a recent Good Day New York appearance.

“I’m not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else,” he explained. “Equality should be enshrined in every country in the world. That’s my belief.”

Mamdani’s refusal to endorse apartheid immediately generated vociferous backlash among the pro-Israel crowd.

“It’s more than problematic,” said Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, told the New York Post. “Jews see this as a dividing line.

Fellow candidate Whitney Tilson said voters should be “concerned” about Mamdani’s position.

“The Orthodox Jewish community is not afraid enough,” Sam Berger, an Orthodox Queens state assemblyman and Cuomo-backer, told Jewish Insider. “While the public generally takes its time to pay attention, we do not have that luxury this year. After two antisemitic attacks in under two weeks echoing the same rhetoric we have persistently warned against from the No. 2 mayoral candidate, we need to vote like our lives depend on it.”

“Zohran Mamdani couldn’t even pretend he supports Israel’s right to exist as actually Israel: Bad as everyone was on stage at the first Democratic mayoral debate, he disqualifies himself with that stance alone,” declared the New York Post’s editorial board.

“Jewish lives will be at stake if this man is elected,” tweeted New York City Council member Inna Vernikov. “He’s going to enable antisemitism like this city has never seen. If he wins and TRUE principled conservatives don’t remain in the Council, violence will SKYROCKET. Don’t just watch it unfold. Act. VOTE!”

Will Israel factor into the election?

The attacks on Mamdani certainly didn’t come out of left field, as Israel has remained a contentious issue throughout the race.

In an interview last month, Cuomo said that the upcoming election was a referendum on Israel within the Democratic Party.

“You have a schism in the Democratic party right now, and this election is in many ways a litmus test of that,” said Cuomo.

“I don’t consider them Democrats, I consider them socialists,” he continued, referring to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “They support BDS, they pledge never to visit Israel. That’s not what I believe is the fundamental relationship between Israel and the Democratic Party. As a Democrat, I think it’s synonymous that you support Israel.”

Cuomo’s comments were clearly aimed at Mamdani, who is endorsed by NYC-DSA in the race for mayor. In contrast to Cuomo’s centrist vision, Mamdani is running on a campaign of freezing rent, building affordable housing, and raising the city’s minimum wage.

He is also an open supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) and a vocal critic of Israel. In 2023, he cosponsored the Not on Our Dime Act, which would prohibit local charities from funding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Cuomo is the favorite to win the election, but Mamdani’s campaign has been picking up steam, and polling has consistently shown that Mamdani is the only candidate with a viable chance of overtaking the former governor. A recent Emerson College poll showed Mamdani surging to within 9 points of the frontrunner.

It’s unclear how much Israel will factor into the contest, but the issue has certainly been at the forefront of the campaign in recent weeks.

Last month, Politico ran an article accusing Mamdani of refusing to back measures condemning the Holocaust.

The piece quotes pro-Israel Assemblymember Sam Berger, who smeared Mamdani as an antisemite and attacked him for being endorsed by Jamaal Bowman.

“He condemned Israel the day after October 7th, regularly gives interviews on unapologetic antisemitic platforms, and just proudly accepted an endorsement from a disgraced former fire-alarm pulling Congressman who denied October 7th rapes before walking that back,” Berger told Politico.

“His plan to ‘combat’ antisemitism is tossing more money at the Jews,” he continued. “At what point do we acknowledge that if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and quacks like a duck — it’s a duck?”

Mamdani quickly released a video addressing the article, saying that the website had “spread lies” and made a “baseless accusation.”

Mamdani says he hasn’t cosponsored any resolutions since January, as part of a blanket policy implemented so he could focus exclusively on legislation. He points out that he has voted for the Holocaust Remembrance Day resolution every year, supports allocating millions for Holocaust survivors in the city, and has proposed the largest fiscal commitment to combating antisemitism.

The Politico story is certainly not the only recent article that attempts to tag Mamdani’s criticisms of Israel as antisemitic.

As the election nears, the right-wing New York Post has run a series of pieces attacking Mamdani’s progressive agenda, including one where he is accused of “spewing antisemitic tropes.” The tabloid recently put a photo of him on its cover with the headline, “CANDIDHATE FOR MAYOR.”

This line of attack eventually led to Mamdani being asked whether he supports Israel’s “right to exist” as a state. He told reporters he does, but was confronted by a pro-Palestine activist over the issue at a campaign event shortly after.

“Don’t be hypocritical and say ‘Free Palestine’ when you’re also defending the right for Israel to exist,” the unidentified individual told Mamdani. “It does not have the right to exist. It’s not your land to say it has the right to exist.”

At a subsequent town hall, Mamdani seemingly clarified his position. “I believe Israel has a right to exist and it has a right to exist also with equal rights for all,” he explained, weeks before repeating these views at the debate.

Despite the push to smear Mamdani as an antisemite, polling shows that Jewish voters prefer him to every other candidate besides Cuomo. Brad Lander, the city comptroller and anti-occupation reform Jew, is running third among Jewish voters.

Mamdani has also received endorsements from multiple Jewish activists and organizations, including The Jewish Vote and Jewish Voice for Peace Action (JVP Action).

“We’re incredibly proud that JVP Action was one of the first organizations to endorse Zohran Mamdani for Mayor,” Beth Miller of JVP Action told Mondoweiss. “We’ve knocked tens of thousands of doors over the last few months, and our number of volunteers continues growing every week. This campaign is proving that progressive candidates who are consistent in their values – who embrace unapologetic support for Palestinian rights as part of their politics, and who call for an end to US complicity in the Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza – are popular. Zohran and his clear, humanity-based message have mobilized historic levels of support. We have a chance to elect a mayor who wants a more fair and affordable city and who supports human rights and dignity for all people – from NYC to Gaza.”

“Corrupt, dinosaur politicians like Andrew Cuomo are trying to run this race from an outdated playbook,” she added. “Jewish New Yorkers are done letting politicians conflate us with the Israeli government, or use us as political pawns to divide our communities and manufacture consent for genocide.”

Political consultant Peter Feld says that the declining support for Israel among Democratic voters could actually hurt Cuomo and other pro-Israel candidates in the race. An April Pew poll shows that 53% negative rating, an 11 point increase since March 2022. A March 2025 Gallup poll found that just 43% of Americans side with Israel over the Palestinians, and that Democrats side with Palestinians over Israel by a margin of 59% to 21%.

Feld says that the numbers are likely comparable in New York and that Mamdani might be able to gain further ground by pushing the issue.

“While politicians like Cuomo and [current NYC Mayor] Eric Adams, and independent groups like Solidarity PAC, see only upside in aggressively backing Israel, it’s very likely there is more downside,” Feld told Mondoweiss. “I’d love to say that there is a golden opportunity for independent pro-Palestine groups to flex their muscle and run ads attacking Cuomo for pledging to outlaw our right to criticize Israel, enacting the IHRA definition of antisemitism.”

Feld’s analysis aligns with another recent Emerson poll that shows 46% do not think it’s important for the next mayor of New York City to be pro-Israel.

Mondoweiss is an independent news organization that informs readers about developments in Israel/Palestine and related U.S. foreign policy. We provide news and analysis regarding the struggle for Palestinian human rights that is unavailable through mainstream media.