A tense closed-door meeting was held in recent days at the office of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, where ten rabbis representing different streams of American Judaism confronted him over his anti-Israel statements.
During the hour-long meeting, the rabbis warned Mamdani’s public opposition to Israel, his pledge to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his calls for protests during Netanyahu’s visits to New York are creating a deep sense of insecurity among Jewish residents.
The community leaders said Mamdani’s positions were also damaging their ability to cooperate with his administration. Representatives of Reform and Conservative Judaism, who have often taken critical positions toward Israel, reportedly told the mayor that his statements are contributing to rising antisemitism and could encourage further hostility toward Jews.
The meeting came amid recent New York Police Department data showing an 8.5% increase in hate incidents targeting Jews during the first seven months of Mamdani’s tenure. Such incidents accounted for approximately 57% of all reported hate crimes in the city, while July saw a 53% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes compared with the same month last year.
Several participants said they felt Mamdani had yet to acknowledge a connection between his rhetoric and the rise in antisemitism, prompting the rabbis to confront him directly with their concerns.