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<\/a><\/p>\nNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani addresses the crowd during the ‘Get Out the Vote’ rally at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on June 18, 2026. (Selcuk Acar\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The letter was organized by the Jewish Majority advocacy group, led by AIPAC veteran Jonathan Schulman. It called out the mayor for his remarks at a rally last week ahead of the Democratic primaries in New York, in which several congressional candidates backed by the mayor notched victories.<\/p>\n
During his remarks eight days ago, Mamdani told the crowd that \u201cthese monsters take many forms,\u201d then singled out the prominent pro-Israel lobby, saying AIPAC feared \u201cdemocracy being allowed to run its course\u201d and those who seek \u201can end to genocide and Netanyahu\u2019s wars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe serve different communities, hold different political views, and do not speak with one voice on every question concerning Israel, American politics or the war in Gaza,\u201d the letter read. \u201cBut we are united in our belief that Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s recent speech about pro-Israel civic participation is dangerous, unacceptable and beneath the office he holds.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter called on Mamdani to \u201cretract his remarks and affirm clearly that Jews and pro-Israel Americans are full participants in our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can debate policy. We can argue about money in politics. We can disagree passionately about Israel and the Middle East. But no elected leader should demonize Jews or those who stand with the Jewish state,\u201d the letter continued. \u201cCriticizing Israeli policy is not antisemitic. Treating millions of Zionist Jews as morally suspect, politically illegitimate or less deserving of equal participation in public life is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani\u2019s remarks were criticized by a host of mainstream Jewish groups as well as some of his progressive Jewish allies.<\/p>\n
For Schulman, the goal of the letter was to ensure that Mamdani \u201cunderstands his awesome responsibility to tamp down the rhetoric before somebody gets hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that we are past the primaries, I think this is a real opportunity for the mayor to kind of reset and use this as a moment of focusing on building bridges instead of trying to divide the community,\u201d Schulman said.<\/p>\n
The letter was not the first time that the Jewish Majority had sponsored a letter opposing Mamdani\u2019s rhetoric.<\/p>\n
In the lead-up to the November mayoral election, the group also published a letter signed by over 1,000 rabbis and cantors taking aim at Mamdani\u2019s previous defense of the slogan \u201cglobalize the Intifada\u201d and voicing their opposition to the \u201cpolitical normalization\u201d of anti-Zionism.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s letter drew many of the same signatories from the October letter, including Rabbi Joshua Davidson of the Reform Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side and Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz of the Orthodox Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side, who Schulman said had approached him on Monday to launch the letter.<\/p>\n
The letter also referenced the growing political power of the Democratic Socialists for America, which saw two candidates, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, win their Democratic primaries in New York on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see that the DSA is growing in clout throughout the country, and as the most prominent member of the DSA, I think he really has an opportunity and a responsibility to tamp down on some of this language,\u201d Schulman said, referring to Mamdani.<\/p>\n