By: Fern Sidman

The upset victory of Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary has sent tremors through Jewish communities across the globe, raising urgent concerns about the future of Jewish life in the world’s most populous Jewish city outside of Israel. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has built his career on support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and his defense of inflammatory slogans such as “Globalize the Intifada.”

His triumph on Tuesday—powered by a passionate grassroots base and backed by high-profile progressives—has ignited fear and determination among Jewish New Yorkers who view his rise not just as a political shift but a direct challenge to the values and safety of their community.

“This is not just a political development—it is a moment of existential reckoning,” warned Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM). “New Yorkers deserve a mayor who fights antisemitism, not incites it.”

Mamdani’s campaign was marked by sharp divisions between his energized base—comprised largely of young, progressive, anti-establishment voters—and a broad coalition of Jewish residents, both Orthodox and secular, alarmed by his rhetoric and record. While Mamdani’s supporters argue that his criticism of Israel is political, not religious, critics point to a troubling pattern of statements and endorsements that blur the line between legitimate policy critique and incitement.

Jewish leaders from across the city and beyond have expressed alarm over Mamdani’s continued alignment with slogans and causes that many believe trivialize Jewish suffering and fuel antisemitism.

“There’s nothing abstract about it,” said one Brooklyn community leader. “The slogans he’s defending are the same ones spray-painted on synagogues and shouted at Jews walking the streets. We don’t get to separate the words from the actions.”

Mamdani’s win comes on the heels of a tentative ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran, brokered by President Donald Trump, following a deadly 12-day war that claimed the lives of dozens of Israeli civilians under a barrage of ballistic missile attacks. While the ceasefire has brought a measure of quiet to the region, Jewish communities worldwide remain on high alert.

This week alone, Jewish institutions and symbols have been targeted in multiple countries in a rash of antisemitic attacks and vandalism:

Melbourne, Australia: A synagogue was defaced twice in one day with graffiti reading “Iran is da bomb” and “Free Palestine.”

Chicago, Illinois: Antisemitic death threats and slurs appeared across surfaces in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

Duncan, British Columbia: “Death 2 all Jews” was scrawled on a building.

North London, UK: Intruders broke into the Gur Synagogue and desecrated sacred Torah scrolls.

Sydney, Australia: A public payphone was defiled with the phrase “Gas the Jews.”

According to the Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) operated by CAM, these incidents contributed to an alarming surge in antisemitic vandalism, nearly doubling from the previous week both in raw numbers and as a proportion of total reported hate incidents.

For many Jewish New Yorkers, Mamdani’s win is not just political—it is personal. His statements, affiliations, and refusal to disavow slogans like “Globalize the Intifada” are seen as antagonistic to the values and safety of a community still reeling from recent global surges in antisemitism.

A prominent Orthodox rabbi in Queens described the moment bluntly: “We’re being told we’re overreacting, but look at the timing. Look at the slogans. Look at the global atmosphere. This isn’t about partisanship. This is about whether Jews have a future in this city.”

The candidate’s critics also warn of economic consequences. Jewish business leaders fear that his progressive platform—marked by calls for rent control, higher taxes on the wealthy, and city-run grocery stores—would drive investment and jobs out of New York at a time when the city is still recovering from post-pandemic economic turmoil.

In the face of this growing threat, Jewish leaders are urging unity. Influencers like Lizzy Savetsky have called for immediate and coordinated mobilization. “We must rally behind one candidate—and it can’t be Curtis Sliwa because a Republican will not win in NYC,” she warned. “While Mamdani’s team is running an effective social media campaign, our community is fractured and distracted. Some are more concerned about their weekend plans in the Hamptons than the future of Jewish life in this city.”

Duvi Honig, founder of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, offered an even sharper critique of Mamdani’s young supporters. “The recent surge of support for Zohran Mamdani among voters under 40 raises profound concerns regarding the intellectual rigor and judgment of the younger generation,” Honig said. “By backing a candidate who endorses positions associated with terrorism and Holocaust denial, these voters reveal a troubling lack of historical awareness and a disconnection from reality.”

Even the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, typically reluctant to intervene in domestic political matters, issued a rare rebuke, condemning the co-opting of Holocaust imagery to defend slogans like “Globalize the Intifada” as “outrageous and especially offensive to survivors.”

Commentary magazine’s John Podhoretz captured the gravity of the moment: “The city with the largest Jewish population in the world will likely have as its mayor a man whose worldview and convictions stand in opposition to the fundamentals of Judaism itself. I’m not kidding when I say that people like Mamdani are why there has to be a Jewish state.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition echoed the warning, calling Mamdani a “raging antisemite, anti-America, anti-Israel Democrat socialist” who “will be a total disaster for Jewish residents.”

Their conclusion was stark: “So long as Democrats refuse to change course, they will continue to hemorrhage Jewish support.”

With November approaching, the question now turns to action: Will New York’s Jewish community unify, engage, and protect its voice? Or will it retreat, distracted by summer getaways and internal divisions, as the tide turns against it?

The choice may well define the city’s future—and the Jewish place within it—for a generation to come.