Rabbi Marc Schneier, founder of the prestigious Hampton Synagogue and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, gave a wide-ranging interview to Arutz Sheva - Israel National News while hosting a high-level leadership delegation from his congregation in Israel.
The delegation had just returned from Azerbaijan - a country Rabbi Schneier described as “of the 57 Muslim nations, Azerbaijan is Israel’s greatest ally and friend” - before concluding their trip, as always, in Jerusalem. Previous missions led by the Rabbi took Hampton Synagogue leaders to Bahrain (2018), Saudi Arabia (hosted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman), and Turkey (hosted by President Erdoğan).
Speaking in the Arutz Sheva studio, Rabbi Schneier declared that at his synagogue “Israel is our magnificent obsession” and that the congregation, designated by the Orthodox Union as the most philanthropic in the world toward Israel, is “very Israel-centric.” He also shared that his congregation has hosted every President and Prime Minister of Israel.
He revealed that during the current visit the group was addressed by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Jewish Agency chairman Doron Almog (who credited the Hampton Synagogue with the original naming gift for the rehabilitative village ADI in the Negev), and enjoyed a reception with President Isaac Herzog (a lifelong friend of Rabbi Schneier).
Rabbi Schneier did not hold back on the situation facing New York Jews under incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Recounting a phone call he received from the mayor-elect after anti-Israel protests outside his late father’s synagogue, Rabbi Schneier told Arutz Sheva:
“Mamdani condemned the riots, but his condemnation was half-baked. I said, ‘Mr. Mamdani, how is hosting Nefesh B'Nefesh misusing a synagogue? Not only are you out of touch with the Jewish community, you’re out of touch with the Arab-Islamic world today. The majority of Arab and Muslim-majority nations support a two-state solution. They may champion a Palestinian state, but never at the expense of the Jewish state.'"
"The mayor-elect refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, who supports BDS. I for one will never allow anyone to bifurcate anti-Zionism from anti-Semitism. Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.” The Rabbi revealed he even invited the mayor-elect to join him on his next trip to Azerbaijan to meet Muslim leaders who strongly support Israel.
Rabbi Schneier predicted that Qatar “will be one of the first countries to normalize with the State of Israel” and will join the Abraham Accords, claiming many controversial Qatari actions were taken “because of requests that were made either by the Prime Minister of Israel or by the president of the United States.”
He recounted his personal experience negotiating with Doha ahead of the 2022 World Cup, securing direct flights from Tel Aviv, kosher food throughout the tournament, and 15,000 Israeli visitors - achievements he jokingly called his “bagel diplomacy in Qatar.”
Regarding Saudi Arabia, he called it “the grand prize” and “the spiritual center of Islam,” arguing that normalization between Mecca’s custodian and the Jewish state would “reverberate throughout the Islamic world.” He urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to simply “recognize the aspirations of the Palestinian people” - a symbolic gesture he believes Riyadh and other Sunni powers require as political cover, without demanding specific borders or timelines.
"Even Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country in the world, which has offered 20,000 troops for the peace force in Gaza, doesn't care when, how, or what the Palestinian state will look like. They just want the Prime Minister to recognize the aspirations of the Palestinian people."
Despite growing concerns over antisemitism in the city, Rabbi Schneier rejected calls for a Jewish exodus: “It’s not time to leave. It’s time for us to invest in new alliances, new intergroup relations.”
At the same time, he believes many Jews will soon leave New York City in light of the mayoral election results. He is preparing by establishing the first-ever Jewish day school in the Hamptons, set to open in September 2027, in anticipation of “hundreds if not thousands” of Jewish families relocating full-time from New York City. “It’s the least I can do for a country that really is greatly responsible for the honor and the dignity of the Jewish people today.”