New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani continues to publicly express anti-Israel views. In an interview with ABC, he questioned Israel's right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people and called for a dramatic shift in U.S. foreign policy and military aid.
Mamdani, who was elected with the support of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, was asked directly about his views on Israel. He replied that he supports Israel only as a state that guarantees equal rights for everyone, regardless of religion.
"I believe that any state that privileges one religion over another is one that I can't tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else," he said.
A significant portion of the interview focused on U.S. defense funding and military aid to Israel. Mamdani argued that American voters are signaling to their leaders that they are no longer willing to finance military conflicts in the Middle East.
He claimed that the public is "exhausted" by "a politics that has justified the spending of tens of billions of dollars in killing civilians overseas, while working people are struggling just to do the basics."
Alongside his sharp criticism of Israeli policy, the mayor was also asked about the growing tensions on the streets of New York City, where violent incidents and attacks motivated by national and religious hatred have risen significantly.
Mamdani acknowledged that antisemitism has increased at an alarming rate throughout the city. He noted that while Jewish New Yorkers constitute a minority of the city's population, they continue to account for the overwhelming majority of hate crime victims across the city's five boroughs.
The mayor stressed that this phenomenon is completely unacceptable and said the city's leadership would never accept it or treat it as a normal part of daily life. He pledged to continue fighting antisemitism and uproot it wherever it appears.
Ophir Akunis, Israel's Consul General in New York, responded to Mamdani's remarks, saying: "Mamdani, we do not need your recognition as the state of the Jewish people. If you knew even a little history, instead of spending all day inciting and spreading hatred, you would know that Israel's Declaration of Independence guarantees full equality for all its citizens-and that has been the reality since the day our state was established."
"The surge in antisemitism in the United States in general, and in New York in particular, is the result of ignorance and a lack of knowledge, combined with a fundamental hatred of the Jewish people. I warn once again that Mamdani's inciting rhetoric will end in very serious and violent acts against the Jewish communities of this city and the Israelis who live here," Akunis added.