New York state Attorney General Letitia James and her Republican opponent Saritha Komatireddy are clashing over how to combat antisemitism ahead of Tuesday\u2019s election.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The GOP challenger has frequently attacked James during the campaign over her handling of antisemitic crimes, but prominent Jewish leaders are rallying to defend the Democratic incumbent.<\/p>\n
Komatireddy accuses James of turning a \u201cblind eye\u201d to antisemitic hate crimes as they grow more common in the state with the largest Jewish population.<\/p>\n
A number of Jewish leaders have lined up to defend James\u2019 record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a statement that he has seen James\u2019 commitment to New York communities \u201cfirsthand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen an Ethiopian-Israeli small business owner in Harlem faced hate, she rearranged her statewide schedule to stand with her, offered immediate support, and followed through personally,\u201d Treyger said, referring to anti-Israel backlash that faced Tsion Cafe<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFrom confronting antisemitism and discrimination to protecting public safety and celebrating Jewish life, she has remained accessible and responsive to community concerns,\u201d he continued, praising \u201cher unwavering leadership and partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n As a City Council member, James\u2019 district included parts of the heavily Orthodox Jewish Crown Heights neighborhood, and she has called herself an \u201chonorary Lubavitch<\/a>.\u201d Crown Heights United PAC endorsed<\/a> James for reelection last month.<\/p>\n As attorney general of New York state since 2019, James is the state\u2019s chief legal officer, leading an office with more than 700 lawyers that conducts statewide criminal and civil investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n But as reported hate crimes against Jews across the state have increased<\/a> in the past decade, Komatireddy, who was a federal prosecutor in New York for more than a decade, says the attorney general isn\u2019t doing enough.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data shows that antisemitic hate crimes are surging in New York, and someone has to step in and do something about it, because our DAs are being ineffective in stopping that trend,\u201d Komatireddy said in an interview with JTA, referring to district attorneys who generally oversee the prosecution of hate crimes.<\/p>\n James has rejected Komatireddy\u2019s claims. A campaign spokesperson told JTA that she has \u201cstood arm in arm with the Jewish community all throughout her career.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s gone after bad actors who preyed upon Jewish New Yorkers time and time again, and will continue to fight against antisemitism and hate in all its forms,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Jewish Democratic politicians in New York are supporting James\u2019 bid. Outgoing U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, City Council Speaker Julie Menin and six other Jewish Democratic officials endorsed James at a press conference last week, where they commended her support for the Jewish community.\u00a0<\/p>\n Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal praised her for combating housing discrimination against Hasidic families<\/a> in Orange County and for stopping a Rockland County car wash from overcharging<\/a> Orthodox Jews.\u00a0<\/p>\n Menin thanked James for annually marching in the Israel Day Parade \u2014\u00a0an example, she said, of James \u201cstanding with the Jewish community when things are difficult.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m verklempt right now,\u201d James said after Menin\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n But some Jewish figures<\/a> and groups<\/a> are backing Komatireddy as she attempts to become the state\u2019s first Republican elected as attorney general in more than 30 years. Komatireddy has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, who called James \u201ccorrupt\u201d after she brought a civil suit against him over inflated property values and called for her to be removed<\/a> as special prosecutor in a Cornell University rape lawsuit.<\/p>\n Komatireddy told reporters that she would declare a \u201cstate of emergency on antisemitism\u201d on Day One as attorney general \u2014 a plan that James told JTA can only be enacted by the governor, not an attorney general.<\/p>\n Asked how she would declare a state of emergency, Komatireddy said she meant that she would utilize a law that allows the attorney general \u201cto step in and prosecute hate crimes when a district attorney has been ineffective in doing so.\u201d Komatireddy\u2019s promises to the Jewish community also include establishing buffer zones outside Jewish schools and synagogues using existing civil rights law.<\/p>\n Komatireddy\u2019s tough-on-crime, tough-on-antisemitism campaign has resonated with some Jewish New Yorkers, and could be the catalyst for \u201ca lot of defections from James to Saritha,\u201d predicted Moshe Davis, who was executive director of the mayor\u2019s office to combat antisemitism under Mayor Eric Adams.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot of the Jewish community is taking to her message,\u201d said Davis.<\/p>\n A poll<\/a> conducted by Siena last month has James ahead 54% to 39%; James led by 6 percentage points in the New York City suburbs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rabbi Elie Weinstock, who leads Long Island\u2019s Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach, told JTA that there is \u201ca sense of unease\u201d among Jewish voters regarding antisemitic incidents.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the Jewish community wants to hear people who will say, \u2018I\u2019ve got your back,\u2019 and I think whoever gives off that impression will do well in the Jewish community,\u201d said Weinstock, who counts Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman among his congregants.\u00a0<\/p>\n He added that people\u2019s opposition to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat like James, \u201cmay guide Jews\u2019 votes\u201d to Komatireddy.<\/p>\n Komatireddy attended a service at Park Avenue Synagogue and posted a video<\/a> in October of the congregation\u2019s rabbi Elliot Cosgrove wishing her \u201cevery blessing on your campaign\u201d from the bimah. In a text to JTA, Cosgrove clarified that, while the post was recent, her visit was in \u201cwinter\/spring.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t \/ didn\u2019t endorse. I always warmly welcome visitors,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Jewish Insider reported<\/a> in October that Komatireddy posted photos from a meeting on the street with members of a Black Hebrew Israelite church that has called Jews \u201cimposters\u201d and the \u201cSynagogue of Satan.\u201d<\/p>\n Komatireddy told JTA that this was \u201can impromptu meeting\u201d on the street in Rochester, and that \u201conce we found out who they were, we rejected the hateful views that the group espouses\u201d and deleted the post.<\/p>\n In March, Komatireddy wrote a scathing piece for the New York Post accusing James of turning a \u201cblind eye\u201d to antisemitic incidents.<\/p>\n But Binyamin Krauss, principal of SAR Academy, a Jewish day school in the Bronx, said \u201cThat\u2019s not my experience\u201d of James. Krauss last week hosted the attorney general at SAR, where she spoke with students. He pointed to her \u201csupporting the community\u201d on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side after two men were stabbed<\/a> there over the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously you can disagree with certain decisions, when to prosecute, what to prosecute, how to handle a certain situation \u2014 but I do not agree with that characterization,\u201d said Krauss, who added that he is not endorsing any candidates.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Davis said that \u201cturning a blind eye\u201d is \u201cnot necessarily how I would frame it,\u201d but opined that \u201cpeople want to see more.\u201d He also said that James is \u201csomeone who\u2019s always shown up, always been a friend\u201d to Jewish New Yorkers.<\/p>\n Phylisa Wisdom, who leads Mamdani\u2019s office to combat antisemitism and was executive director of the liberal advocacy group New York Jewish Agenda, told JTA that James \u201chas been a committed advocate for New York\u2019s Jewish communities for decades,\u201d going back to her time on the New York City Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAttorney General James has used the tools of her office to root out antisemitism and help ensure that everyone in the state, including Jewish communities across the five boroughs, can live safely and thrive,\u201d Wisdom said.<\/p>\n