Rabbi Avi Weiss, a senior rabbi from New York City, lashed out against New City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after the latter published a message marking the "Nakba," a term used by Palestinian Arabs to label the establishment of the State of Israel as a catastrophe.
Weiss, who is the founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in The Bronx and founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat Rabbinical Schools, wrote a strong post on X (formerly Twitter) calling the Mayor "slick, phony, ignorant, and a real antisemite."
According to Rabbi Weiss, Mamdani's latest message regarding the Nakba is "beyond the pale."
He called on all Jewish organizations to "boycott him, refuse to meet with him, and decline to invite him to communal functions," specifically naming ADL, AJCommittee, the NY Board of Rabbis, UJA, and others.
"Hopefully, non-Jewish organizations will do the same. New York’s Jewish community has no shortage of avenues to address its needs: city council members, law enforcement, the judiciary, and countless other city officials remain accessible and willing partners," he added.
Rabbi Weiss concluded: "New York business should only be conducted with government officials who are not antisemites. We’ve overcome antisemites in the past, and we will do so again."
The video, which drew harsh criticism from numerous Jewish figures and organizations, features Palestinian Arab-American and New York resident Inea Bushnaq detailing her family's departure from Jerusalem during the 1948 War of Independence.
The media package concluded with an on-screen caption asserting that "for Palestinians, their displacement and the Nakba continue to this day."
The timing of the mayoral broadcast drew immediate fury from local leadership, as it was intentionally uploaded at 5:40 p.m. on Friday, before the Jewish community commenced the observance of Shabbat.