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Exclusive: Jewish leaders and supporters have been criticizing 33-year-old socialist Zoran Mamdani, especially since securing the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor, for their refusal to condemn the phrase “globalisation of intifadas.”
“If Zohran Mamdani is elected, expect Jews to escape from New York City,” actor, filmmaker and Jewish activist and advisor Yuval David told Fox News Digital.
David, who recently moved from New York City to Washington, D.C., said more Jewish New Yorkers are thinking of leaving the city due to the rise of anti-Semitism. New York City has the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel.
According to data from the New York State Department of Budget Policy and Analysis, “In 2023, nearly 44% of all recorded hate crime cases and 88% of religion-based hate crimes targeted at Jewish victims, the largest percentage of all such crimes.” According to a NYPD crime report, anti-Semitic hate crimes rose by 81% between 2023 and 2024.
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Democratic candidate Zoran Mamdani would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor if elected. (Reuters/Bing Guang)
“We’ve seen Jewish businesses being attacked. We’ve seen increased safety in Jewish synagogues and Jewish schools. This only spreads at unprecedented levels with mum ticks,” warned David.
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During the major campaign, Mamdani denounced the phrase “globalizes the intifadas” and refused to acknowledge Israel as causing accusations of the Jewish state of anti-Semitism. Mamdani repeatedly denied these claims, confirming his commitment to condemning the rise of anti-Semitism in New York City.
But David said Mandani’s sponsorship of the controversial bill “ends New York funding for Israeli Settlement Violence Act, not our dime,” in the New York State Legislature, undermines his feelings.
David said the bill “will prohibit New York-based nonprofits from funding Israeli organizations. This means all major Jewish organizations, as essentially all major Jewish organizations are involved in Israel. Therefore, this is a specific target for Jewish organizations that support Israel under the guise of regulating foreign military aid.”
Protesters took part in an anti-Israel protest outside the Columbia University campus on November 15, 2023 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Jewish advocates explained that the bill is “named anti-Israel,” but in fact it targets the Jewish community.
“To ensure that any organization has no involvement in Israel would undermine all Jewish communities in New York City,” David said.
“Anti-Zionism is the latest form of anti-Semitism, and anti-Zionism denies the right to self-defense,” said Rabbi Mark Schneier, president of the New York City Ethnic Understanding Foundation and founder of the senior rabbis at the Hampton Synagogue.
Anti-Zionism has rejected Israeli war in Gaza among pro-Palestinian protests that erupted at Columbia University and other universities’ campuses around the country, but David described Zionism as a “nationalist movement.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are running independent candidates this November. (Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Image; Alex Kent/Getty Images)
“Anti-Zionism is the latest form of anti-Semitism, and anti-Semitism would trigger a massive Jewish departure from New York if we were not successful in identifying and supporting candidates to defeat the Mamdani,” Schneier explained.
Schnayer called him “a great supporter of Andrew Cuomo,” a former New York governor who decided to run as independence in the mayoral election after losing to Mamdani in the primary last month. The rabbi also said he hosted Mayor Eric Adams in his congregation.
And David said Cuomo, Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Swawa are all ally of the Jewish community.” However, both Jewish leaders said they were worried that these candidates would split the vote and benefit Mamdani.
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“In the face of candidates who are extremists or fanatics, anti-Semitism, and socialist, we must speak up in screaming protests, and moderation is not enough in terms of how we must respond and how the Jewish community must respond to this existential threat,” Schneyer said.
When asked if there was anything Mamdani could do to alleviate Jewish New Yorkers’ concerns, David was a “dropout.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for a response, but did not respond immediately.
Deirdre Heavey is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
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