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Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt accused Zohran Mamdani of overlooking Jewish New Yorkers in a CNBC interview on Monday. “There are questions we should ask right now, like, this candidate has visited churches and mosques, not a single synagogue,” Greenblatt said. He also said that Mamdani has not “met any mainstream Jewish leaders in a public forum.”
The answers are out there. Mamdani went to Shabbat services with the Kolot Chayeinu congregation in Park Slope, which was co-led by progressive rabbi and activist Abby Stein, in February. The synagogue has an “Open Tent” philosophy that has made it a hub for anti-Zionist Jews alongside those who consider themselves Zionists or non-Zionists. Brad Lander, the city comptroller who cross-endorsed Mamdani in the primary, is a member.
Mamdani also went to B’nai Jeshurun, a synagogue on the Upper West Side, for two mayoral forums in June. In May, he visited the Midtown offices of UJA-Federation of New York for a town hall co-moderated by New York Jewish Week’s Lisa Keys.
Greenblatt also said Mamdani would not condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” because “he believes it.”
It’s true that Mamdani has not condemned the pro-Palestinian protest slogan, which is viewed by its defenders as a call for liberation and by its critics as a call for attacks on Jews. Since his primary win, Mamdani has privately and publicly said he will “discourage” the phrase.
Greenblatt also said that Mamdani “proposed legislation in Albany to restrict the ability of Jews to donate, or anyone to donate to Israeli organizations.”
As a member of the New York Assembly, Mamdani sponsored a bill called “Not On Our Dime” that would have blocked charities from supporting “Israeli settlement activity.” Some Jewish nonprofit leaders have said that the bill, which did not pass, sparked concerns that any groups providing humanitarian services to Israelis could potentially be penalized.
