Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania has accused Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, of failing to condemn “blatantly antisemitic” rhetoric by “extremists,” wading into a party-wide debate over the Democratic nominee and his views on Israel.
During the primary, Mr. Mamdani refused to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” though he has more recently appeared to soften his defense of the phrase. Palestinians and their supporters have called the phrase a rallying cry for liberation, but many Jews consider it a call to violence, a direct reference to deadly attacks on civilians in Israel by Palestinians in uprisings in the 1980s and 2000s.
Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and longtime Democratic official, also criticized Mr. Mamdani, saying bluntly in a podcast released Thursday that a politician unwilling to condemn use of the phrase has no place in the party.
The critiques from Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Emanuel, two of the country’s most prominent Jewish elected officials, underscored how deeply Mr. Mamdani’s victory has shaken Democratic leaders, who have yet to unite behind Mr. Mamdani’s campaign.
Mr. Shapiro told Jewish Insider, in an interview the news outlet published on Wednesday, that Mr. Mamdani “seemed to run a campaign that excited New Yorkers.” But, he continued, “He also seemed to run a campaign where he left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things.”
Mr. Mamdani’s vocal support for Palestinian rights, a cause he has described as foundational to his political activism, has forced Democrats into a high-profile debate over whether outspoken opposition to Israel and its government — and even questioning its existence as a Jewish state — is a position that should be embraced by the party.
He has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide,” and, when pressed, has not said if Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, instead endorsing equal rights for all religious and ethnic groups there.
Since winning the nomination, Mr. Mamdani has moved to distance himself from comments that sparked outrage, telling an influential group of business leaders in a private meeting that he would not use the phrase “globalize the intifada.” .
And in a recent interview on “Inside City Hall” he said he would “discourage its use.”
Mr. Mamdani has repeatedly denounced antisemitism, even growing emotional on the campaign trail in addressing accusations that he was antisemitic himself. He’s called for greater funding for prosecuting hate crimes and called the rise of antisemitism a “crisis” for the city.
Mr. Shapiro, in his interview, suggested that more was needed.
“I’ll say this about Mamdani or any other leader,” Mr. Shapiro said. “If you want to lead New York, you want to lead Pennsylvania, you want to lead the United States of America, you’re a leader. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democratic leader or a democratic socialist leader. You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can’t leave room for that to just sit there. You’ve got to condemn that.”
Mr. Shapiro, who has made his religious observance part of his public profile, has repeatedly entered or been thrust into the debate over antisemitism and faltering support for Israel within his party. He spoke out sharply against anti-Israel protesters in Philadelphia in 2023, saying they had staged a demonstration outside a falafel restaurant because its owner was Jewish and Israeli. He denounced the president of the University of Pennsylvania that same month after she failed to give a clear answer in congressional testimony when asked if calling for the genocide of Jews violated the school’s policies; she wound up resigning.
A top contender to join former Vice President Kamala Harris on the presidential ticket last year, Mr. Shapiro became the subject of intense scrutiny over his support for Israel during the vice-presidential search process. After being passed over, he delivered a fiery speech reaffirming his commitment to his faith as a driver of his public service.
In April, a man who police say was motivated by opposition to Israel set the governor’s mansion on fire while Mr. Shapiro and his family slept inside. Mr. Shapiro has repeatedly declined to label the attack a hate crime, saying it would hamper the work of prosecutors.
Mr. Mamdani’s nomination has divided the Jewish community, both in New York — the city with the world’s largest Jewish population — and across the country.
Mr. Mamdani won support from many Jewish New Yorkers, including Brad Lander, the city comptroller, who cross-endorsed him in the primary, but for many other Jews, his victory confirmed their worst fears about the direction of the American left and fueled a sense that urgent concerns about the community’s safety were being dismissed.
Mr. Lander defended Mr. Mamdani in a statement, saying the party’s nominee won the votes of “thousands of proud Jews” and a majority of Democrats in New York City. He added, “Josh Shapiro won’t help keep Jews safe in N.Y.C. or Pennsylvania by feeding Trump’s narrative about our Democratic nominee for mayor.”
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Mr. Mamdani defeated in the Democratic primary, described his views as extreme, and Republicans seized on his ardent criticism of Israel to cast Mr. Mamdani and the entire Democratic Party as “proudly antisemitic” — a charge he has forcefully rejected.
For decades, Jews have been a bedrock part of the Democratic coalition as well as ardently pro-Israel. But views on Israel are shifting within the party. Nearly seven in 10 Democrats now express an unfavorable view of Israel, compared with 37 percent of Republicans, according to polling released by Pew Research Center this spring.
Mr. Shapiro himself has been outspoken in criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the right-wing government he leads.
“There are policies of the Netanyahu government that I don’t support,” he told Jewish Insider. “I’ve been very vocal about that. But there’s a difference between not supporting the policies of whoever’s in charge at a particular time, and the underlying notion of a Jewish state of Israel. I do think it is important to strengthen people’s understanding of Israel and the relationship America should have with Israel and to strengthen that bond.”
Mr. Emanuel, the former ambassador to Japan, Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff during the Obama administration, delivered his critique in an appearance on a podcast hosted by Bari Weiss, founder of the online publication The Free Press.
“I’ve never met Mamdani, but he strikes me, from a distance, as a very smart, sensitive person,” Mr. Emanuel said. “But to not be sensitive to that is incredibly off-kilter to me. And the signs of ‘we’re going to globalize intifada,’ even if he’s saying that’s not what he meant, etc. — it means you’re not hearing a big constituency in the city you want to be mayor of.”
Asked flatly by Ms. Weiss whether a politician who does not condemn the idea of “globalizing the intifada” has a place in the party, he replied simply: “No.”
Mr. Emanuel, too, drew a distinction between antisemitism and what he views as legitimate criticism of Israel leadership, including of Mr. Netanyahu. “I support the state of Israel as a Jewish democratic state, but when it’s wrong it can be called wrong,” he said. “It doesn’t make me antisemitic.”
Lisa Lerer is a national political reporter for The Times, based in New York. She has covered American politics for nearly two decades.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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