By Grace Gilson
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with a group of rabbis on Aug. 10 for roughly an hour.
The rabbis’ report on the meeting differed greatly from the report of the executive director of Mamdani’s office to combat anti-Semitism, Phylissa Wisdom. She said:
“It was an open, positive and constructive conversation.”
The meeting was initiated by Wisdom’s office amid heightened tensions between the mayor and most Jewish New Yorkers over his criticism of Israel, of AIPAC (Mamdani called it “monstrous”) and of Prime Minister Netanyahu (Mamdani called him a “war criminal”); over his condemnation of aliyah events in New York synagogues, and over his acceptance of a City Council bill protecting synagogues only because it was veto proof.
“We were there in our own unique voices to say to the mayor, this is not going well, and the rhetoric about Israel, about its leader, the different issues, it comes across not as criticizing a policy or some moment, it comes across as vilifying Israel, which we said is causing Jews in New York and probably elsewhere to not just feel less safe, but to really be at risk,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, an attendee at the Aug. 10 meeting.
Mamdani has faced mounting scrutiny in recent months from Jewish leaders to tone down his rhetoric, including his recent comments on AIPAC and Netanyahu (the “architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people”).
‘From the rhetoric to the stabbing’
Following Mamdani’s attack on Netanyahu late last month, which came as he acknowledged he did not have the authority to arrest the Israeli leader, several critics of the mayor linked his rhetoric to a stabbing attack on two men, one of whom was visibly Jewish.
“No one was there trying to convince the mayor to change his views on Israel,” said Rabbi Jonathan Leener of the modern Orthodox Prospect Heights Shul.
“But there were certainly moments of tension and passion, particularly as people tried to convey how isolated and vulnerable many Jewish New Yorkers feel right now, and the extent to which some believe his rhetoric has contributed to that sense of vulnerability.”
Leener said he felt that the mayor was “genuinely engaging with us, acting in good faith, and listening carefully to our concerns, particularly our plea to help turn down the temperature.”
“Ultimately, I will judge him and his administration by their actions and by the results they deliver around making Jewish New Yorkers feel safe,” Leener added. “But I do applaud them for inviting us in, listening and creating space for a candid and substantive conversation.”
Rabbi Rachel Timoner, whose Reform Park Slope synagogue Congregation Beth Elohim hosted Mamdani for a meeting with congregants during the mayoral race, said that while she didn’t know what the mayor’s next move would be, she hoped the meeting would be a “breakthrough moment.”
“The next time he criticizes Israel, I would like to hear him in that moment simultaneously say, ‘The Israeli government is not the same as Jewish New Yorkers. It is not acceptable ever to take out your anger at the Israeli government against the Jewish people of New York . . . ,’” Timoner said.
Wisdom said that the group of rabbis included “several denominations, including Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox, as well as unaffiliated groups.”
She said the meeting focused on “strategies to strengthen Jewish safety and belonging, maintain candid lines of communication and collaborate on issues where we have shared values and goals,” Wisdom said.
“It was an open, positive and constructive conversation,” Wisdom continued.
“Mayor Mamdani has and will continue to engage with Jewish life in New York City in order to meet the needs of our communities and reaffirm his commitment to the thriving of Jewish communities across the five boroughs.”
Pakistan’s independence day, but not Israel’s
The meeting sparked criticism from Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, the leader of the modern Orthodox Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side, who was not invited to the meeting and said the mayor should have worked with the New York Board of Rabbis to coordinate the roundtable.
“He could have reached out to the organized rabbinic community, but he chose not to because he was trying to just pick a group of people that he thought might be more congenial to his particular politics,” Steinmetz said.
Steinmetz, who has long been critical of Mamdani, said that while he had attended a meeting with the mayor previously, he believed the mayor was “absolutely insincere about caring about our concerns.”
Hours after the meeting, Mamdani posted on X a series of images of himself celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day, a tribute that Leener said “reflects a broader pattern of double standards and the singling out of Israel,” referring to Pakistan’s expulsions of Afghans.
“Against that backdrop, I found it striking that the mayor felt comfortable publicly celebrating Pakistani Independence Day while choosing not to attend Israel’s Independence Day celebration in June,” Leener said.
“The contrast reinforces a concern many of us raised in the meeting: that Israel is too often treated by a different standard.”
“I hope that the mayor will prioritize, as he seems to do in other communities, to really be in conversation, be in dialogue, be in relationship — not just with the people who are broadly supportive — but also those of us who have been publicly critical, as I have been, and I know others have been as well,” Jacobs said. “That’s the obligation of leadership.”
The Satmar Take
Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg, decried criticism of Mamdani in a speech earlier this month, local documentarian Frieda Vizel reports. Mamdani also met with Satmar leaders, including Rabbi Moishe Indig, a Satmar chasidic leader who endorsed Mamdani during the mayoral race, last week.
NYPD Training in Israel
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was asked Wednesday by City & State reporter Fariha Rahman whether the NYPD would continue with its plans to visit Israel in the fall to meet with the Israeli national police for training. “I don’t know what the City Council’s plans are,” Mamdani replied.
“They’re an independent body, and I’ll leave it to the speaker to answer that question.”
Senior NYPD officials have previously travelled to Israel for counterterrorism and anti-Semitism training.
Mamdani tanks among Jewish voters
Mamdani struggles with Jewish voters: A new poll from Siena University has found that just 26% of Jewish New Yorkers have a favorable view of Mamdani, while 66% hold an unfavorable view of the mayor. The poll, which was conducted from Aug. 3 to 6 and surveyed 811 New York likely voters, had a margin of error of +/- 4.2%.
