NEW YORK, N.Y. – New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani fielded a series of contentious questions about how he will support Jewish New Yorkers during the first general election mayoral debate in New York City on Thursday night.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and independent candidate former Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Jewish New Yorkers don’t trust Mamdani to protect them. New York City is the largest diaspora of Jews outside Israel.
“Jews don’t trust that you are going to be there for them when they are victims of anti-Semitic attacks,” Sliwa said to Mamdani.
During the debate, POLITICO Senior Politics Editor Sally Goldenberg asked Mamdani how he would assure Jewish New Yorkers that he would be a “mayor for all.” The question came after Mamdani previously refused to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which is considered a call to violence against Jews, and given his 2017 rap lyrics praising the Holy Land Five, who were convicted of supporting terrorism.
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Mamdani maintained that he now discourages the term “globalize the intifada” and doesn’t use that language himself, explaining that conversations with Jewish New Yorkers changed his perception of the phrase’s impact.
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Cuomo questioned why Mamdani still won’t denounce the phrase.
“Just say, ‘I denounce it.’ He won’t do it. That’s the issue,” Cuomo said.
And then Cuomo took it a step further, accusing Mamdani of not believing in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
“He is a divisive personality all across the board,” Cuomo said.
In response, Mamdani ripped into the “unfounded lies that have been said by Andrew Cuomo.”
“I’ve said time and again that I recognize Israel’s right to exist,” Mamdani said, explaining that he “would not recognize any state’s right to exist with a system of hierarchy on the basis of race, of religion.”
“Answer the question, you won’t support Israel,” Cuomo said, closing out a heated moment.
Meanwhile, Sliwa said with the rise of antisemitism in New York City, neither Cuomo nor Mamdani have the capability to protect Jewish New Yorkers.
“In order to counteract hate, you have to get the community involved, along with the police, to protect people when they’re under siege,” Sliwa said. “Jews are under attack now more than ever before.”
If elected, Mamdani would be New York City’s first Muslim mayor. Mamdani has become a staunch advocate against Israel’s “genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
Mamdani co-founded his college’s Students for Justice in Palestine organization.
Thursday’s mayoral debate was hosted by NBC 4 New York/WNBC and Telemundo 47/WNJU, in partnership with POLITICO. Election Day is Nov. 4 in New York City in the race to replace Mayor Eric Adams, who suspended his re-election campaign last month.
Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
