Questions Deepen Over His Approach to Antisemitic Unrest

By: Fern Sidman – Jewish Voice News

In the latest flashpoint underscoring mounting tensions around antisemitism and anti-Israel activism in New York City, the Jewish Insider reported on Thursday that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani sought to distance himself from a volatile demonstration outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue on Wednesday night — a protest marked by incendiary chants, pointed threats, and a renewed public scrutiny of the incoming mayor’s past associations with anti-Israel demonstrations.

The protest, organized by an anti-Zionist activist group, coincided with an immigration-information event hosted inside the synagogue by Nefesh B’Nefesh, a nonprofit organization that facilitates Jewish immigration to Israel from North America. As the Jewish Insider report detailed, hundreds of demonstrators assembled outside the historic Modern Orthodox institution, with recorded chants including “Death to the IDF” and “Globalize the intifada.” Other slogans invoked longstanding anti-Israel rhetoric that many Jewish leaders and elected officials have increasingly linked to heightened threats against Jewish communal spaces.

Against this backdrop, Mamdani — whose election earlier this month has been met by considerable apprehension across segments of the city’s Jewish community — issued a carefully worded statement through his spokesperson, Dora Pekec, on Thursday. In comments provided to the Jewish Insider, the mayor-elect signaled disapproval of the language used by demonstrators but also suggested that the event inside the synagogue constituted an activity in violation of international norms.

“The mayor-elect has discouraged the language used at last night’s protest and will continue to do so,” Pekec told the Jewish Insider. “He believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.”

The statement, while offering a degree of critique of the protesters’ rhetoric, immediately drew attention for its concluding clause — a reference widely interpreted as connecting the synagogue event to alleged breaches of international statutes. When pressed by the Jewish Insider to clarify whether the mayor-elect’s office was suggesting wrongdoing by Nefesh B’Nefesh or Park East Synagogue itself, Pekec specified that the comments pertained to the group’s promotion of Israeli settlement activity beyond the Green Line.

According to the spokesperson’s remarks to the Jewish Insider, Mamdani’s team maintains that such activities fall under conduct “which violates international law,” an assertion frequently invoked by anti-occupation advocates but sharply contested across significant segments of both Israeli and American political leadership. The clarification indicates that while Mamdani opposed certain aspects of the protest’s tone, he remains aligned with critiques of Israeli settlement policy — an ideological posture that has been central to his political identity since his entry into public life.

Mamdani’s response to the Park East incident arrives at a sensitive moment for relations between New York City’s Jewish communities and the incoming administration. As the Jewish Insider has chronicled over recent months, many Jewish New Yorkers have expressed anxiety surrounding Mamdani’s political ascent, particularly given the ongoing surge in antisemitic threats, rhetoric, and vandalism since the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.

As a state assemblyman, Mamdani attended a number of anti-Israel protests — including several where demonstrators openly praised Hamas or invoked violent slogans — before launching his mayoral campaign. He has also staked significant portions of his political brand on far-left approaches to Middle Eastern policy, including calls for a ceasefire shortly after the October 7 attack and support for measures framed as “decolonization” initiatives.

Yet, as reported by the Jewish Insider, Mamdani has sought to recalibrate parts of his messaging as he prepares to assume the responsibilities of New York City’s highest office. He has pledged to expand funding for hate-crime prevention, increase police protection at Jewish institutions, and bolster city efforts to counter antisemitic incidents through education and community partnerships.

Still, the mayor-elect has declined to outright condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” a phrase widely regarded across the Jewish world as a call for violence against Jews and Israelis. In previous interviews cited by the Jewish Insider, Mamdani has asserted that he discourages the phrase and does not personally employ it — but he has avoided attributing to it the violent meaning that critics argue is intrinsic to its use.

The statement from his spokesperson this week marks the first formal reaction from his incoming administration to an episode of anti-Israel unrest since his election. According to the report at the Jewish Insider, the statement is viewed as a test case of how Mamdani intends to navigate deeply polarized constituencies while managing rising local tensions linked to global conflict.

While Mamdani’s statement attempted to balance condemnation of intimidation with criticism of the synagogue event itself, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams issued a markedly more forceful response. In a post cited by the Jewish Insider, Adams denounced the protesters’ chants as “vile,” castigating the demonstrators as “sick and warped.”

Adams, who is currently abroad on a multiday foreign visit that included a stop in Israel, reiterated his longstanding condemnation of antisemitism and pledged to visit Park East Synagogue upon his return to New York. “Pray for our city,” he wrote, warning that threats to one religious community inevitably threaten others. “They come for me today and you tomorrow. We cannot hand this city over to radicals.”

Governor Kathy Hochul — who endorsed Mamdani during his campaign — also condemned the demonstration in uncompromising terms. As quoted by the Jewish Insider, Hochul wrote: “What happened last night at Park East Synagogue was shameful and a blatant attack on the Jewish community. Hate has no place in New York.”

Her comments reflect a growing bipartisan alarm among state leaders over the rapid surge in antisemitic incidents across New York, documented extensively in recent months by law-enforcement agencies and by Jewish advocacy groups interviewed by the Jewish Insider.

The backdrop for Wednesday’s protest, Park East Synagogue, is itself a pillar of New York’s Jewish history. Founded in 1890 and regarded as one of Manhattan’s most architecturally significant synagogues, the institution has for decades been guided by Senior Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor and prominent international advocate for interfaith dialogue and religious freedom.

While the synagogue declined immediate comment to the Jewish Insider, community members expressed deep concern about a protest featuring threats and violent chants positioned directly outside a house of worship. One attendee described the confrontational tone as “deeply unsettling,” especially given the frequent presence of schoolchildren at the adjoining Park East Day School.

According to the information provided in the Jewish Insider report, Nefesh B’Nefesh proceeded with its planned programming despite the demonstration, welcoming participants at a security-monitored entry point inside the building.

As Mamdani prepares for his January 1 inauguration, his political balancing act is becoming increasingly prominent. His comments through the Jewish Insider represent an attempt to portray himself as both protective of Jewish communal security and ideologically critical of Israeli policies — a dual posture that many observers believe will define the early months of his tenure.

Supporters argue that Mamdani is capable of threading this needle, pointing to his stated intention to expand police deployment at Jewish institutions and to invest in anti-hate initiatives. Critics, however, contend that his refusal to unequivocally denounce certain forms of anti-Israel rhetoric undermines the seriousness of these commitments.

The events outside Park East Synagogue — and the political responses that followed — highlight the complexities awaiting New York’s next mayor as global conflict continues to reverberate across the city’s streets, campuses, and religious institutions. As the Jewish Insider report emphasized, Mamdani’s statements may offer the first glimpse of how he intends to navigate these intersecting pressures, but many in the Jewish community remain watchful for how he will respond when the next crisis emerges.