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<\/a><\/p>\nNYC comptroller Brad Lander speaks during the Jews For Racial And Economic Justice’s Mazals Gala on September 10, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Lander, the city\u2019s comptroller, who cross-endorsed Mamdani in the primary, also said he believed he should have done more to criticize Israel over the war in Gaza. He was speaking at a gala for the progressive group Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, which has expanded its pro-Palestinian advocacy during the nearly two-year war.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I have tried to find the courage required, while I called for a ceasefire with JFREJ on Hanukkah 2023, have stood many times with Israelis for Peace, I want to be clear \u2014 I know I have not done enough to speak out against Israel\u2019s war crimes, against ethnic cleansing, against forced starvation of Palestinians,\u201d Lander said, to loud cheers from the crowd of more than 1,000.<\/p>\n
Lander\u2019s comments were notable because of the dynamics around Israel at play among Jewish progressives ahead of the mayoral election. Mamdani is a longtime critic of Israel, while Lander has characterized himself as a liberal Zionist who has resisted articulating some of the harshest charges against Israel. The gap has been a rare area of sunlight between the two politicians, who share a progressive vision for the city\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Lander said he believed the two camps could work together for the common good \u2014 though he acknowledged that doing so can be difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe we must build a coalition of anti-Zionists and liberal Zionists committed to ending the horrors in Gaza,\u201d he said, noting that his synagogue, Brooklyn\u2019s Kolot Chayeinu, has long been a meeting point for Jews aligned with the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace and the liberal Zionist group J Street. <\/p>\n
More recently, it has been among the many progressive Jewish spaces to be wracked by internal tensions during the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve often joked that Kolot is a place where JVP Jews and J Street Jews pray together with only minimal side-eye. Historically, JFREJ has been like that, too,\u201d Lander said. \u201cBut since Oct. 7, that has been so much harder. As Ezra Klein observed recently, \u2018It\u2019s a tense time in the Jewish family group chats.\u2019 But it has never been more important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lander\u2019s comments came as JFREJ was honoring him and Mamdani with a joint \u201cMazals\u201d award for their \u201cpartnership and the hope and optimism they\u2019ve inspired.\u201d Though the group does not take an official stance on Zionism, anti-Israel (and anti-Trump) messages were displayed prominently in the Brooklyn venue, including \u201cJews say: No genocide, No deportations, No anti-trans hate,\u201d and \u201cArms embargo now,\u201d alongside broader messages like \u201cNew York is for everyone\u201d and \u201cCare not corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike other speakers, including Mamdani and the Jewish comedian and \u201cBroad City\u201d co-creator Ilana Glazer, Lander did not describe Israel\u2019s conduct in Gaza as a \u201cgenocide.\u201d He has said he eschews the term, which Israel rejects as inaccurate, because \u201cit closes ears rather than opens them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani, meanwhile, called his primary victory \u201ca lesson that so many in this city are horrified by the genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli military in Gaza, by the violence being inflicted using weapons paid for by our tax dollars as Americans.\u201d (Polls show that voters were mostly motivated by other issues, but that 30% of voters said Mamdani\u2019s stances on Israel made them more likely to vote for him.)<\/p>\n
He lauded the JFREJ membership, saying, \u201cBeing here tonight truly feels like being with family.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so proud of the movement that we have built together, not because of how many of us there are, but because of the values that bind us,\u201d Mamdani said. He then listed some of those values, mentioning compassion and a belief in affordability before concluding on a note about the issue he has described as central to his politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we hold a common belief in the shared dignity of every person on this planet, without exception, and a refusal to draw a line in the sand as it so often is done when it comes to Palestinian lives,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
If Lander has been feeling the heat among progressives over his attitudes about Israel, attendees at the gala said they were not aware of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d said Marcia Belsky, a JFREJ member who hosted a Zoom portion of the event, when asked the question. \u201cI think he\u2019s an interesting person, where he identifies as a liberal Zionist, and yet he\u2019s very actively outspoken against the genocide in Gaza and in aligning with people who are not willing to compromise with those talking points that the mainstream media always forces them into.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Andy Kahn, the executive director of the American Council for Judaism, a recently revived Reform anti-Zionist group, said he hadn\u2019t heard anyone argue that Lander had been inadequately vocal about Israel or Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually haven\u2019t really heard that criticism of him, and I haven\u2019t felt it myself either,\u201d Kahn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike he said, he was out calling for a ceasefire in 2023,\u201d he said, adding that Lander has been \u201cdoing this work for a really long time in really good faith.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lander elaborated on his comments in an interview following the ceremony, pointing to a recent op-ed in which the Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ayman Odeh wrote that he had not done enough to stop the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, none of us have done enough. An atrocity is taking place in our name,\u201d Lander said. \u201cIf there is hope for democracy in Israel, Ayman Odeh represents it. And if he could find a path to continue to support hostage families, see the pain Jewish families are feeling, be a fierce voice for his people and then say, \u2018I have not done enough to call out and stop these atrocities\u2019 \u2014 boy, the least I could do is say so.\u201d<\/p>\n
The JFREJ event took place as speculation mounts about Lander\u2019s future after his term as comptroller ends in December. His staunch support for Mamdani, as well as his decades of experience in public office, have fueled an expectation that he could wind up in City Hall if Mamdani is elected.<\/p>\n
But this week, a poll showed Lander handily beating Rep. Dan Goldman in a primary for New York\u2019s 10th Congressional District. Goldman has so far declined to endorse Mamdani, saying he wants to see \u201cconcrete steps\u201d to assuage Jewish New Yorkers\u2019 fears. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have no comment on my next steps,\u201d Lander said. \u201cI still have a few more months as comptroller, and I\u2019m thinking about the ways I can most usefully contribute at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n