{"id":304432,"date":"2026-07-24T02:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T02:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/304432\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T02:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T02:23:15","slug":"enormous-mistake-to-leave-nyc-because-of-mamdani-jewish-leaders-say-israel-jewish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/304432\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Enormous mistake\u2019 to leave NYC because of Mamdani, Jewish leaders say – Israel & Jewish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

(July 23, 2026 \/ JNS)\n <\/p>\n

Before a 50-year-old Jewish man, who was wearing a kippah, was stabbed<\/a> with a screwdriver on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side, JNS sought comment from New York City rabbis about under which circumstances, if any, Jews would leave the city after Zohran Mamdani, the city mayor, released a video calling the Israeli prime minister a \u201cwar criminal,\u201d who ought to be arrested.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Scott Bolton of Congregation Or Zarua, a Conservative synagogue on the Upper East Side, told JNS that \u201cwe cannot allow them to stir us into new kinds of senses that another great exile is in our sights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been nothing like America and the promise of this nation for the Jewish people to have a diaspora center that remains as strong as we\u2019ve ever been, and even stronger after these tides,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n

Bolton told JNS of the attack on Thursday that \u201cif this crime is another one committed against identifiable Jews on the streets of New York, this is yet another crime in a long string of attacks that deserve a better response from City Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New York City Police Department needs \u201cto be empowered to do their jobs, and prosecutors should not be held back from getting criminals off our streets,\u201d the rabbi told JNS.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny serious mayor would be on a public tear about the number of serious felonies in New York City,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is not enough public support for the NYPD from City Hall, and there is not enough empowerment of Jessica Tisch,\u201d commissioner of the NYPD, \u201cto get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolton was one of several rabbis to talk to JNS on Thursday, on the Jewish fast of Tisha B\u2019Av, which marks the destruction of the two Jewish Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of Jews from the city. In a statement about the fast, Mamdani recognized the day without commenting on the Temples or on Israel.<\/p>\n

In the past, Mamdani\u2019s spokeswoman has said that synagogues that host pro-Israel events violate international law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Mamdani admitted in the new video he doesn\u2019t have the authority to arrest, is expected in New York City in September for the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Mamdani<\/p>\n

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani waves from a car, June 3, 2026. Credit: Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office.<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s video is \u201cjust hitting the drums again and again and again,\u201d Bolton told JNS. \u201cOur question has to be about staying strong. How do we strengthen each other? How do we strengthen our community?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not about sounding alarms about safety,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m about strengthening Jewish resolve and demanding from the authorities the responsibility to all the citizens of New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewish New Yorkers \u201cdeserve so much more\u201d than \u201ca youth, who is using his platform on TikTok and now has been elected to spill his Jew-hatred,\u201d the rabbi told JNS.<\/p>\n

Bolton accused the mayor of using his office \u201cin an insidious way\u201d to continue \u201cplaying on sympathies from especially the younger crowds and antisemites in the wings, who want to use Jew-hatred to create the bogeyman for absolutely failed everything from socialist to, in his case particularly, Islamist\u2014radical Islamist policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to call that out,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n

\u2018Jews have gotten spoiled\u2019<\/p>\n

Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, senior rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, a Modern Orthodox synagogue on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side, told JNS that the Mamdani\u2019s rhetoric, and that of his supporters, is \u201cnot unique to New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is an enormous mistake to give up on New York City because of Mamdani, just as I think it\u2019s an enormous mistake to give up on America because of the rise in antisemitism,\u201d Steinmetz told JNS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is that everything has gone so smoothly the last couple of decades, and American Jews have gotten spoiled,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause of that, we have become passive. We need to learn once again how to stand up for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recent rise in Jew-hatred is not the first in American history, according to Steinmetz, who said the Jewish community should respond by organizing rather than retreating.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, what we need to do is organize ourselves politically,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cIf the Democratic Socialists of America was able to build an electoral machine, so can we. We need to reach out to allies in the non-Jewish community and work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the time to quit,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Mamdani<\/p>\n

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers his 100 days address with guest Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at Knockdown Center in Queens, April 12, 2026. Credit: Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office.<\/p>\n

Chaskal Bennet, a political activist and advocate on Jewish communal issues, told JNS that he is keeping an eye on \u201cwhether the rhetoric and ideology coming out of City Hall get translated into policy, policing issues or a deterioration of our ability to live and work safely in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is \u201cpremature and counterproductive\u201d for Jewish leaders to tell people to leave the city, he said. \u201cThere\u2019s so much that we\u2019ve built here: extraordinary communities, tremendous investment, shuls, yeshivas, homes, businesses and significant investment in infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t allow one elected official or one election to chase us away,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019re stronger than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivkie Feiner, a board member of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County, New York, also said that Jews must not retreat from the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a lifelong Jewish New Yorker, and especially as someone visibly Orthodox, I reject the idea that the answer to antisemitism is retreat,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cWe will not allow hatred to dictate whether we remain in New York. Our history is defined by resilience, not surrender, and that will not change now.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Feiner first saw Mamdani\u2019s video, she thought it might be generated by artificial intelligence, she told JNS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that it was real was shocking and deeply troubling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Still, it would take conditions in New York deteriorating to the point at which \u201cJews cannot live openly and safely\u201d to convince Feiner that the community should leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy red line is not a single controversial statement,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cIt is whether the government fails in its most basic duty\u2014to protect its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not there today, thanks to strong leadership in key areas, but that reality cannot be taken for granted,\u201d she said. \u201cNew York is home to one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in the world, and we are not going anywhere\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Israel<\/p>\n

New York City Police Department officers ride in the Israel Day on Fifth parade in Manhattan, carrying an array of flags, May 31, 2026. Credit: Courtesy of the NYPD.<\/p>\n

Stabbing \u2018changed my thinking\u2019<\/p>\n

Duvi Honig, founder and CEO of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber Of Commerce, told JNS that the stabbing on Thursday \u201cchanged my thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a big difference between not doing enough to stop hate and actually fueling it,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a mayor openly supports Hamas, constantly condemns Israel but won\u2019t equally condemn Hamas and antisemitism, it sends the wrong message and gives extremists confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

It gave confidence to many Jewish New Yorkers when Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, stayed on as commissioner of the New York City Police Department under the Mamdani administration, according to Honig.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she ever felt she could no longer do her job, because City Hall wasn\u2019t backing her or giving the NYPD what it needs, that would be a huge red flag\u2014not just for the Jewish community but for every New Yorker,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers want leaders who bring people together, back law enforcement and make it clear that hate and violence have no place here,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n

Failing in his leadership <\/p>\n

Rabbi David Katz, executive director of the Israel Heritage Foundation, told JNS that he was the \u201conly rabbi\u201d to welcome Mamdani into office on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I said, when a person becomes mayor, he deserves our respect,\u201d Katz said. \u201cI gave him very warm blessings, and I was very respectful. I said that I will respect him, even though I may not align with all his views.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even when Mamdani made statements or took actions with which he disagreed, Katz said that he gave the mayor the benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs time went on, he did things that I had questions about, but I was always able to say and to judge him and to tell him, you know what? Maybe he didn\u2019t see this. He didn\u2019t foresee this,\u2019\u201d Katz said. \u201cNew York is huge. There are millions and millions of things happening at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recent video pushed Katz to finally speak out against the mayor, he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"NYPD<\/p>\n

A New York City Police Department counter terrorism officer, Sept. 18, 2025. Credit: Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving a speech that does not pertain to leadership in New York, that does not pertain to anything that should be in his department, and only went and put up a fire of making people unhappy\u2014that showed that he\u2019s failing in his leadership,\u201d Katz told JNS. \u201cHe\u2019s not doing enough for his people.\u201d<\/p>\n

A descendant of Holocaust survivors on all four sides of his family, Katz said that he did not want to discuss what developments he would consider a \u201cred line\u201d that would push him to leave New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to think that way. We truly believe Moshiach is coming,\u201d he said, of the Messiah. \u201cWe truly believe that every minute he\u2019s going to come, and we\u2019re almost there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think America is here to stay, and we\u2019ll never come to a point that we will have to leave here,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n

Not close to point of leaving<\/p>\n

Ezra Friedlander, CEO of an eponymous firm that advises Jewish groups on government and public affairs, told JNS that it would take an event like Kristallnacht, the Nazi-organized pogrom also known as the \u201cnight of broken glass,\u201d to convince him that Jews need to abandon the Big Apple.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not believe we\u2019re anywhere close to the point where Jews have to leave New York City,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cNo, no. I\u2019m not going to say that. Those are very strong words, and the answer is absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friedlander, who described himself as \u201can identifiable Chassidic Jew\u201d and \u201clet\u2019s assume, not a card-carrying Zionist in the traditional sense of the word,\u201d said that his concern about Mamdani\u2019s statements about Israel and its prime minister has \u201cnothing to do with Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

He offered a hypothetical scenario, in which he stood on a subway platform beside a secular, former Israeli soldier, while a person enraged by the mayor\u2019s remarks decided to push one of them onto the tracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is he going to push off the platform? He\u2019s going to push Ezra Friedlander off the platform,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cWhy? Because that\u2019s who he\u2019s identifying with Israel. It\u2019s the Jew.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani does not \u201chate Jews\u201d but \u201chas a beef with the State of Israel,\u201d Friedlander said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re the mayor of 8 million New Yorkers and 1 million-plus Jews, your words have ramifications beyond your intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the danger. That\u2019s the problem I have,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause unwillingly, I\u2019m giving him the \u2018unwillingly,\u2019 your words will cause antisemitism to the point where Jews could be in danger because of what I just outlined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Friedlander cautioned against an alarmist response to Mamdani\u2019s remarks and said that Jewish New Yorkers \u201chave nowhere else to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of investment in the infrastructure of Jewish life here in New York is in the untold hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cIt would require a Kristallnacht to have Jews leave New York City, and thank God we\u2019re nowhere close to that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(July 23, 2026 \/ JNS) Before a 50-year-old Jewish man, who was wearing a kippah, was stabbed with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-304432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}