“Wherever anti-Zionism has been normalized, it has led to an increase of hostilities toward Israel and the Jewish people,” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch told JNS. “I would welcome the mayor waking up one day and understanding that.”
Within moments of Zohran Mamdani’s swearing in as New York City mayor at midnight on Jan. 1, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch called JNS from Jerusalem, explaining that his worries about the safety of Jewish New Yorkers, due to Mamdani’s longstanding anti-Zionism and pledges to institute anti-Israel municipal policies, continue unabated.
Hirsch, with other rabbis, had two long meetings with the then mayor-elect in the months leading up to the inauguration, as Mamdani actively pursued connections with many of New York’s Jewish leaders. Several of the latter had warned publicly that his views, if put into practice as mayor, would pose dangers for Jewish New Yorkers by leading to more antisemitism, which has already increased dramatically since Oct. 7.
The New York City area is home to about 1.3 million Jews, second only to Israel’s greater Tel Aviv area.