Just days before Zohran Mamdani\u2019s victory in the New York City mayoral election, voters in the Netherlands put a Dutch politician named Rob Jetten in position to form a government and become their next Prime Minister.<\/p>\n
Meet the Dutch Mamdani.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0resemblance<\/a>\u00a0between the two politicians is uncanny. Jetten leads the center-left D66 party, and like Mamdani he is a youthful 38 years old, personable, energetic, and savvy on social media (especially Tik-Tok). Like Mamdani, he defied the polls to defeat an entrenched incumbent, campaigning on expanding housing and staking out anti-Israel positions.<\/p>\n Like Mamdani, he will set firsts \u2014 Mamdani as the first Muslim mayor of New York City and Jetten as the youngest and first openly gay prime minister in Dutch history.<\/p>\n But as left-wing as Jetten is, a lot of New Yorkers would be breathing a sigh of relief if he were the incoming mayor instead of Mamdani.\u00a0Jetten lacks Mamdani\u2019s resentful edge. He has put forth nuanced positions on divisive issues like immigration, and he unequivocally condemns Hamas.<\/p>\n Mamdani seems to have a grudge, as indicated by his\u00a0response<\/a>\u00a0to what he claimed was an\u00a0anti-Islamic\u00a0attack during the campaign by his opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.\u00a0 \u201cGrowing up in the shadow of 9\/11, I have known what it means to live with an undercurrent of suspicion in this city,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cI will always remember the disdain that I faced.\u201d He and other New York Muslims unquestionably faced hostility after 9\/11 but he sounds like a man with a score to settle. That is supposed to be Trump territory. Jetten didn\u2019t campaign on grudges and ran an \u201cit-can-be-done\u201d\u00a0positive<\/a>\u00a0campaign\u00a0straight out of the cheerful Obama playbook.<\/p>\n On immigration, Mamdani has pledged to\u00a0stop\u00a0deportations but apparently would not make an exception for illegal immigrants who\u00a0commit\u00a0crimes<\/a>\u00a0or pose national security threats.\u00a0\u201cTo get to\u00a0any\u00a0of us<\/a>,\u201d he has said, \u201cyou will have to get through all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Jetten,\u00a0while emphasizing the need for\u00a0humane immigration\u00a0policies,\u00a0argues<\/a>\u00a0that asylum seekers should file their applications outside of the European Union and that he would be \u201cstrict with the rotten apples who ruin the system.\u201d\u00a0That balanced policy helped Jetten squeak by anti-immigrant, Islamophobic member of parliament\u00a0Geert Wilders\u00a0\u2014 a populist known as the \u201cDutch\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u201d and a longtime force in Dutch politics.<\/p>\n Mamdani and Jetten are both strongly critical of Israel\u2019s conduct of the Gaza War, but Jetten has unequivocally condemned Hamas whereas Mamdani has\u00a0waffled<\/a>. Asked on the second anniversary of the war whether Hamas should lay down its arms and leave Gaza, Mamdani \u2014 rather than give an easy \u201cyes\u201d answer,\u00a0claimed\u00a0he was too busy<\/a> working on affordability to give the question much thought. Instead, he merely said he hoped for peace.\u00a0Did that question really need much thought?<\/p>\n In contrast, this Oct. 7, Jetten unhesitatingly condemned Hamas and expressed sympathy for its Israeli victims. He recalled the \u201chorrific<\/a>\u00a0terror attack,\u201d the murder of more than 1200 Israelis, the kidnapping of hundreds, and the (then-remaining) hostages \u201cwho go through hell\u201d every day.\u00a0\u00a0 He also did not spare Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he called \u201cruthless.\u201d<\/p>\n Bart Schut, a Dutch\u00a0journalist<\/a>\u00a0and pro-Israel commentator, noted that the extreme left, anti-Israel parties took a beating in the Dutch election and suggested the possibility that Jetten could form a coalition with small, right wing parties supportive of Israel. \u201cAll in all, Dutch Jews and friends of Israel can breathe a sigh of relief \u2014 things could have been much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in New York, with Mamdani\u2019s election, it is hard feel such relief.<\/p>\n Gregory J. Wallance<\/a>\u00a0was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team, which convicted a U.S. senator and six representatives of bribery. He is the author of\u00a0\u201cInto Siberia: George Kennan\u2019s Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia<\/a>.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. <\/a><\/p>\n