Stephen M. Flatow is President of the Religious Zionists of America (RZA) He is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995 and the author of A Father’s Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror. Note: The RZA is not affiliated with any American or Israeli political party.
There are photographs that tell an entire story before a word is spoken. The image flashed across the world of President Donald Trump smiling beside New York City’s incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is one of them. The scene looked like a celebration of political partnership. But to many American Jews-especially those who know Mamdani’s record on Israel-that photograph was unsettling.
Mamdani is an outspoken democratic socialist who has made Israel a central target of his politics. He supports the BDS movement. He has falsely described Israel’s actions as “genocide,” has joined protests featuring chants calling for a “global intifada,” and has pushed legislative efforts aimed at punishing organizations linked to the Jewish state. None of this is rumor or rhetoric from political opponents. It is Mamdani’s own documented political activity.
So why was he sitting in the Oval Office?
At first glance, the answer appears simple: politics requires cooperation. New York City relies heavily on federal dollars, and a mayor-no matter how radical-cannot get things done without Washington. Mamdani needs the White House. He knows it. Trump understands it too. They spoke about housing, childcare, and cost of living-issues that affect millions of New Yorkers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. That is the official explanation.
But American Jews have every reason to look beyond the polite press releases.
Trump’s decision to host Mamdani came without any sign that the new mayor intends to moderate his positions on Israel or on the Jewish community. Immediately after leaving Washington, Mamdani repeated that he still believes Trump is a “fascist” and a “despot.” He did not soften his rhetoric. He did not retract support for boycotts or inflammatory slogans directed at Israel. Nor did he offer even a symbolic reassurance to Jews who are anxious about the future of their city.
That is the first red flag: Mamdani walked into the Oval Office unchanged, and he walked out empowered. A handshake and a photograph with the President of the United States now bolster his image as a political figure who can denounce the system while still benefiting from it.
The second red flag is on Trump’s side. It is one thing to meet with a critic. Leaders do that. But Trump made no demand of Mamdani-not on Israel, not on antisemitism, not on his dangerous political rhetoric. If there was leverage to be used on behalf of New York’s Jewish community, Trump did not use it. If he believed the city’s new mayor needed to send a message of reassurance to Jews, there is no evidence he asked for it.
That means the most hostilely anti-Israel mayor in New York’s history has now been granted national legitimacy without giving anything back to the Jewish community whose institutions he has targeted.
Supporters of Trump in the Jewish community may shrug this off as mere political theater: “It’s just Trump being Trump.” Perhaps. Trump is a showman. He enjoys unpredictability. He may believe that by flattering Mamdani, he has neutralized a political enemy. But radicals are not neutralized by access to power. They are strengthened by it.
But beneath the warm language about “affordability” and federal-city cooperation lies a deeper warning: after a mob of protesters chanting “Globalize the Intifada” and “Death to the IDF” besieged a synagogue during a Jewish-immigration event at Park East Synagogue, Mamdani’s team issued what many Jewish leaders called a “hollow” response. His press secretary said Mamdani “discouraged” the slogans and believes “every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation,” while also asserting, with nothing backing it up, that the event inside the synagogue-organized by a Jewish agency that fosters aliyah-“promotes activities in violation of international law.”
The American Jewish community has just watched a rising political figure who has targeted Israel and mainstream Jewish institutions receive credibility at the highest level of government-without a single concession to moderation. It is difficult to imagine that such a moment will not embolden him or his supporters.
The final question is whether Jews will respond with caution or complacency. Mamdani now has a platform larger than City Hall. His rhetoric has already influenced segments of young voters in New York. His new prestige may expand that influence across the country.
The takeaway is clear: the Trump-Mamdani meeting was not a breakthrough of reconciliation. It was a political transaction from which Mamdani gained stature and Trump gained spectacle. But American Jews gained nothing-except a reason to be vigilant.
If Mamdani wants to lead all New Yorkers, including its largest Jewish community outside Israel, he should say so clearly and act accordingly. If he does not, then no photograph-no matter how presidential-will disguise what his political agenda truly is.