Copyright AM New York
As early voting continues in the 2025 NYC Mayor’s race, more than 1,000 rabbis from across the country have publicly voiced their opposition to Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral candidacy, expressing their concerns in an open letter. The religious leaders shared their perspectives on why they believe Mamdani is unfit to become the leader of New York City, which has the largest Jewish population of any place outside Israel. The letter, signed last week, is titled A Rabbinic Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future. It touches on topics including the “political normalization” of anti-Zionism, violent verbiage, and denials of Israel’s legitimacy — and criticized Mamdani for helping to propagate a hostile environment 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 Wise Free Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, said he signed the letter because he has become increasingly concerned about Mamdani’s opinions on the “delegitimization of Israel.” The rabbi made it clear that not everyone who criticizes the Israeli government is antisemitic. But what Mamdani believes, he said, is not about policy or government. “It’s completely legitimate to criticize any policy of any government,” Hirsch said. “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 history, explained that anti-Zionism leads to antisemitism and other forms 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 explained. Regrets? Mamdani doesn’t say During the final 2025 NYC mayoral debate on Oct. 22, moderators asked Mamdani if he had regrets about how he has dealt with issues regarding Israel and Jewish New Yorkers continuing to feel unsafe after acts of antisemitism skyrocketed following the start of war on Oct. 7, 2023. Mamdani did not respond to whether he had any regrets about his statements or views on Israel, but said he would 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 said on the debate stage. During the Oct. 22 debate, the candidate added that he would “deliver on the implementation” of the Hidden Voices curriculum, a public school social studies program that helps students learn about various stories of people in U.S. history, “so children in this city learn about the beauty and the breadth of the Jewish experience.” No further explanation was provided on how the curriculum would be implemented. amNewYork contacted Mamdani’s campaign team for comment on this story and is awaiting a response. Rabbis supporting Cuomo Rabbi Michael Miller, a longtime New Yorker who often travels between the Big Apple and Israel, said he supports the letter, as well as former Gov. and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo for mayor — a sentiment he says he has heard from other 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 said. “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 topics concerning Jewish New Yorkers, said he has not yet heard from the candidate’s campaign since the letter was sent. Another signature on the letter is from Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, of Kehilath Jeshurun on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Steinmetz not only signed the letter but also urged the NYC Jewish community to support Cuomo. The rabbi said he has never endorsed a candidate before, but felt compelled to do so, 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 said. “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 received a response from the Mamdani campaign to the letter. Meanwhile, Hirsch appealed to the Mamdani campaign in a public video, urging the candidate to reconsider his “long-held views” of Israel’s right to exist. “These views are profoundly immoral and are a political dead end,” Hirsch said. “They have increased both Israeli and Palestinian suffering and have distanced the dawn of a new day of coexistence and peace.” Ultimately, as many polls show Mamdani ahead in the race for mayor, Hirsch said he would like the candidate to work toward uniting Jews, Palestinians and supporters of both peoples in NYC and across the world. “Be a uniter and a peacemaker,” Hirsch said in the video, directed toward Mamdani. “Neither Israel nor the Palestinians is going anywhere. Fantasies of eliminating one or the other are harmful delusions unbecoming of responsible political leaders.”
