25-year-old photographs of former New York State Governor and current New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo with arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat have caused renewed controversy, the New York Post reported.
The photographs were taken in July 2000, when Cuomo, who was then serving as Housing and Urban Development under the Clinton Administration, visited Israel for three days. He met with Arafat during his visit to Israel. Arafat and Cuomo are smiling at each other in the photographs.
Former Brooklyn state Assemblyman Dov Hikind criticized Cuomo over the photographs, saying, “The only acceptable photo with Yasser Arafat is putting a knife in his back. Arafat was a pure, unadulterated terrorist. He was a real monster."
Other Jewish activists defended Cuomo and warned that other Democratic candidates on the far left are much greater threats to the Jewish community than Cuomo, who has defended Israel.
“The greatest internal threat to America presently comes from the alliance between the Socialist Left and the Muslim Brotherhood that has infiltrated the Democratic Party under the banner of ‘Progressivism,'" said Attorney Matthew Schweber of the Columbia University Jewish Alumni Association.
Schweber added that "Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani epitomize this threat" and that Cuomo is his "first choice" among the current candidates for mayor.
In summer 2024, Cuomo was behind an ad campaign that condemned the October 7 massacre committed by the Hamas terrorist organization and the pro-Hamas protesters in New York.
“Do they really know who they’re protesting for?" Cuomo said of the protesters.
Cuomo announced Saturday that he will enter the race for mayor of New York City in November.
Cuomo resigned as Governor in August of 2021 after a New York State investigation concluded he had "sexually harassed multiple women and violated state law." He was charged in October of that year.
"Did I make mistakes, some painfully? Definitely, and I believe I learned from them, and that I am a better person for it, and I hope to show you that every day," Cuomo, 67, said in a video posted to X announcing his candidacy.
"New York City is in trouble," Cuomo declared. "You see it in the empty storefronts, the graffiti, the grime, the migrant influx, the random violence—the city just feels threatening, out of control, and in crisis."