Dov Hikind, Chairman and Founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, spoke to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News on Mamdani, antisemitism, US Jewry and the future of Israel.
Dov Hikind says that the “Israel Day Parade in New York City turned into an amazing event. The only thing that bothered me was that there were individuals, leaders of certain Jewish groups, and politicians who bemoaned the fact that Mamdani was not there, which is so perplexing. The man is against a Jewish state. Why would you want him to be there? He was being very honest and sincere. He hates what Israel is all about. Of course, he was not going to be there. But it was an amazing event. I salute Mamdani for not coming. You know what? He is honest and sincere. I can't say that about a lot of other Jewish leaders who play politics when it comes to Israel. He is the real thing. He means it on every single level."
Hikind continued, saying that, “we Jews like to fool ourselves. We like to say, ‘It's going to be good. Don't worry about it.’ I'm just thinking of the people, Jews who were so loyal to Germany in the 1930s. If you called them a Jew first, no, they were Germans. They were so proud. They thought everything would be okay. You'll see. We'll be able to work with him. Whatever. It'll be okay. He won't last long. He's a joke. We always want to be positive, but we got to wake up to reality, especially the reality that we are faced with today, everywhere in the world almost without exception. The kind of hatred and animosity, the kind of antisemitism that we are witnessing today, the only thing I can compare it to is not what I lived through but what I read and watched in videos of Nazi Germany in the 1930s."
On Mamdani’s influence on the state of antisemitism in NYC, Hikind says that, “there's no question. It is bigger, but he definitely plays a role. He does. When you are the bad guy, when you're out there, radical Islamists who are out in the streets in Jewish communities, they go into Midwood, Brooklyn, they go into the Park East Synagogue. At any Jewish event related to Israel, the radicals are out there, and they don't have to worry about anything because you got Mamdani to protect you. We are living in very dangerous times, and the idea that New York has a radical Islamist mayor is just unbelievable, and I think it's going to get much worse, and I'm not sure it'll get better."
“One of the questions people have today is, is there a future in America? People don't really want to face that. When you have a beautiful home and a beautiful community, you don't want to think that way. But I can tell you it is a discussion that is going on. I'm very, very concerned. We need to read history. It is so clear on this. Almost without exception, wherever Jews felt so comfortable and they were so much a part of society that nothing terrible could happen, it happened in spades. So we need to be realistic about what's going on in America today," Hikind warned.
“I think most Americans would say they are against antisemitism, but it's gotten to a point where I'm not so sure of the percentages anymore. First of all, nobody wants to be called an antisemite. They're anti-Israel. They're, you know, all kinds of excuses. Do you really find anyone? I mean, Mamdani will swear on the Quran that he's not an antisemite. But ultimately, when you have a BDS movement to boycott, divest, and sanction one country in the world, like Israel, as the evil country, and there's nothing else in the world that you want to have a BDS movement for, that is antisemitism. So nobody wants to admit they're an antisemite. But at the end of the day, that's the reality."
“But most Americans are decent. But it's not about most Americans. It doesn't take most Americans to bring about, God forbid, the end of American Jewry in America. It doesn't take the majority."
On immigration to Israel, Hikind claims that, “I don't think people are actually making aliyah. Those are the statistics. But people are buying homes in Israel. There's so much going on. People say, ‘I don't know what's going to be, but let me have a place just in case.’ I think if you look at those numbers, that's going on in a very big way in America. ‘Let me have a place in Israel. Oh, it'll be ready in three years. They're building right now in whatever part of Israel.’ That's what people are looking at more and more. Just in case, I want to have a place."
On the controversy in Israel regarding haredi drafting to the army, Hikind explains that, “it's the most difficult thing that I face very often in what is going on. What is going on in Klal Yisrael, among the Jewish people? Especially since October 7th. This is serious business. You have families who have sent their loved ones four, five, six times back in the reserves, back into the army. I don't understand. Nothing is more important than Torah. Number one, absolutely. But everyone needs to play a role in protecting Eretz Yisrael. Everyone needs to play a role. Those that are sitting and learning, the real learners, okay, put them aside. I get it. But most young people, that is not the role that they are playing."
Hikind adds that, “it's not just the argument whether you should go into the army. The demonstrations that are taking place in the streets. I mean, honestly, please forgive me. Yeshiva students who are holding a sefer [book of Jewish law] in their hands, their tzitzit are out, and they're in the street blocking traffic. They're calling police officers Nazis. This is why the Beit Hamikdash [Temple] was destroyed. And I got to tell you, if there was a Beit Hamikdash today, Yoni, it would be destroyed because of the sinat hinam [hatred]. You can have a position, that's okay. But when you create hatred in Klal Yisrael, and it is pure hatred that is being brought into society, that is unacceptable. Where are the leaders to speak out about this, the violence in the streets of Eretz Yisrael?"
“Who are the leaders?" he demands. “I know we have amazing, amazing rabbis. Yes, we do. That does not make them a leader. To deal, to see a situation and to deal with it. I mean, the words that come out of some of the rabbis in Israel, it's like putting a knife into the back of mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and grandparents whose child died defending those communities and all of Israel. Some of the things that are being said about being in the army, it's like the worst thing in the world. It's dangerous for your Yiddishkeit. What are you talking about? You have a government for the past number of years that is willing to do everything in the world to accommodate haredi soldiers-the highest level of kashrut, a beit midrash to sit and learn Torah on the base. Who ever heard of such a thing? And everything else in the world. No women around and so on. If you are truly interested in playing a role, you want to bring Mashiach, this is one way to do it."
“It's a very emotional thing, because at the end of the day being in the army means putting your life on the line. When the Jews came into Eretz Yisrael with Yehoshua, Hashem didn't just make miracles and they didn't have to fight. They had soldiers. Soldiers who fought and died. This perplexes me. It hurts my soul. I just don't understand the lack of leadership on this issue."
Hikind believes that he has a mission both in Israel and in the US and adds that, “we have to do, and the rest is in Hashem's hands. No one can say, ‘How are we going to solve the problem?’ The problem is so huge that we're not going to be able to solve it. Every person has a responsibility on every level to be involved, to do your part; tzedakah, you name it. Come to Israel, not just when things are wonderful. Even when things are difficult. Even when it's raining, come to Israel. This is the most amazing place in the world. It's unbelievable to be here, to sit and see my fellow Jews, all colors, from every place in the world, here in Eretz Yisrael. This is truly a miracle. It's amazing. We have problems. But it is important. It is a miracle."
“It can get tough. It can get difficult. You know what? Just keep in mind, the Jewish people are here. We're not supposed to be here. It doesn't make sense. Doesn't make sense. Okay? The fact that we are here is all you need to know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu [G-d] is there for us."
“Recently I started learning Yeshayahu [the Book of Isaiah], finished it, and now Yirmiyahu [the Book of Jeremiah]. Everyone should learn that because one of the lessons in Yeshayahu that I came away with, that really made me feel so much better, is that Hashem says to Klal Yisrael through Yeshayahu that, at the end, liberation will come, Mashiach will come, whether we deserve it or not. Hashem will say, ‘enough.’ Even if we don't deserve it. I felt a lot better because I'm not sure we're going to deserve it. I felt a lot better. This is Yeshayahu. It applies to 2026."