By: Carl Schwartzbaum

In a political climate fraught with ideological tension and communal anxieties, a quiet but fierce battle is unfolding behind the scenes of New York City’s mayoral race. A coalition of Jewish Democratic officials is facing unprecedented pressure from within their own ranks — and from the far-left flank of their party — to endorse Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, a controversial figure whose anti-Israel stance has sparked alarm among many Jewish voters and political veterans.

According to a report that appeared on Thursday in The New York Post, the effort — dubbed “Jews for Zohran” — is being spearheaded by a cadre of Mamdani’s most loyal Jewish allies, including city Comptroller Brad Lander and Rep. Jerrold Nadler. Their message is direct: get behind Mamdani now or risk facing primary challenges backed by his Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) allies in next year’s legislative elections.

“It’s not so much about conviction as it is about survival,” one veteran Jewish activist told The Post. “They’re waving the white flag. They’re petrified.”

The behind-the-scenes pressure campaign, as described in The New York Post report, includes private meetings with influential Jewish lawmakers and community leaders, with one such gathering reportedly scheduled for Monday morning at a Manhattan union hall. An anonymous lawmaker confirmed to The Post that he had received an invitation.

The stakes are high. Mamdani, a DSA member and state assemblyman from Queens, would be New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor. He shocked the Democratic establishment by trouncing former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the June primary, capturing 56% of the vote after relentlessly campaigning on cost-of-living issues, tenant protections, and police reform. But while his economic populism won over working-class voters, his unapologetic support for the BDS movement and his refusal to denounce inflammatory slogans such as “Globalize the Intifada” have made him a lightning rod — particularly within the city’s large and historically liberal Jewish electorate.

The New York Post report noted that Mamdani’s campaign has so far remained silent on the wave of internal party dissent, though some of the city’s most recognizable Jewish Democrats are breaking ranks.

Former City Councilman Rory Lancman, once a vice chair of the state Democratic Party and a longtime advocate for Jewish causes, has been especially vocal in his opposition to Mamdani. “If ever there was a time to put principle over party, this is it,” Lancman told The Post, calling on his fellow Jewish Democrats to reject calls to unify behind a candidate whose record he described as hostile to Israel and out of step with Jewish communal values.

Still, not everyone is holding the line.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler — widely considered the dean of New York’s congressional delegation — has already endorsed Mamdani following his primary victory, despite previously maintaining a centrist pro-Israel stance. Comptroller Brad Lander, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor himself, not only endorsed Mamdani but cross-endorsed him during the ranked-choice primary process, making him one of the socialist candidate’s highest-profile Jewish boosters. Both men, The New York Post observed, are now central players in the effort to normalize Mamdani’s candidacy within Jewish political circles.

Other Jewish Democrats, however, remain conspicuously silent.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the most powerful Jew in American politics, congratulated Mamdani after the primary but has yet to formally endorse him. Likewise, Rep. Dan Goldman — who represents Jewish communities in Lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn and has been outspoken on matters of antisemitism and Israel — has refrained from signaling any support. State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, another Jewish political heavyweight and a close ally of Governor Kathy Hochul, has so far refused to comment.

According to the information provided in The New York Post report, concerns about Mamdani’s views are al rso reverberating well beyond New York. Former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other Jewish Democrats in Congress have privately expressed deep unease over Mamdani’s growing influence within the party, especially as antisemitic incidents surge nationwide.

The tension encapsulates a broader struggle within the Democratic Party: between traditional liberal constituencies and an ascendant, hard-left movement that includes the DSA, which has grown increasingly vocal in its criticisms of Israel — and increasingly influential in urban strongholds such as New York City.

The pressure campaign from Mamdani’s leftist allies is, in part, a threat disguised as outreach. According to the information contained in The New York Post report, many lawmakers fear that withholding support could invite retaliation in the form of well-funded primary challengers backed by the DSA, a strategy that has been employed successfully in recent New York elections. Mamdani’s own rise through the ranks of city politics is seen as a cautionary tale: a former grassroots organizer who built a loyal progressive base that has now upended the traditional Democratic order.

Still, the prospect of endorsing a candidate who has embraced slogans linked to anti-Israel violence and refused to renounce the BDS movement remains a bridge too far for many.

“It’s an insult to our values,” one Brooklyn-based Jewish councilmember said privately. “He talks about economic justice while aligning with movements that target the Jewish state. That’s not a compromise I’m willing to make.”

For now, Mamdani’s campaign appears content to let others do the persuading. As the general election approaches, his focus remains fixed on galvanizing young, progressive, and disaffected voters — many of whom view the establishment’s unease not as a liability, but as validation.

But as The New York Post reported, the political cost of that approach could be steep, especially if alienated Jewish voters — and their elected representatives — decide they’ve had enough.

With endorsements hanging in the balance and ideological lines hardening, one thing is certain: the “Jews for Zohran” campaign may be the most ironic coalition in recent political memory — and for New York’s Jewish Democrats, perhaps the most fraught.