As New Yorkers gathered across the city to memorialize the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, the day also served as a political backdrop to the New York City mayor’s race.
The attacks in Israel and its ensuing war in Gaza have affected the race, with other candidates frequently criticizing Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and the front-runner, over his staunch criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and its military campaign.
On Tuesday, Mr. Mamdani issued a statement that condemned both the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust and the subsequent invasion that has devastated Gaza.
“Two years ago today, Hamas carried out a horrific war crime,” Mr. Mamdani said, calling for the return of the Israeli hostages still held captive.
Mr. Mamdani then criticized Israel for waging a “genocidal war” that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians. He attacked the American government for being “complicit” and reiterated his view that Israel’s “occupation and apartheid” in Gaza “must end.”
With Election Day drawing near, Mr. Mamdani’s statement reflected his increasingly careful navigation of the politics around the ongoing war in Gaza, a divisive conflict that his political rivals have sought to put at the center of the mayoral race by suggesting he would insufficiently protect Jewish New Yorkers.
The Israeli government jumped into the fray, condemning Mr. Mamdani’s statement. Calling him a “mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda,” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a social media post that Mr. Mamdani “excuses terror and normalizes antisemitism. He stands with Jews only when they are dead.”
Mr. Mamdani has denied charges of antisemitism, and a number of Jewish supporters critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza have defended him. And as Israel’s military campaign has dragged on, public opinion, including in New York, has shifted to be more in line with Mr. Mamdani’s views.
Though Mr. Mamdani acknowledged the mounting death toll in Gaza in his statement, his principal challenger, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, did not. In his own statement, Mr. Cuomo used the anniversary to again cast himself as a vigorous defender of Israel who was best equipped to represent Jewish New Yorkers.
“To the Jewish people — I stand with you. I mourn with you and I will forever be by your side in the fight against evil and antisemitism in all forms,” Mr. Cuomo wrote on social media.
On Tuesday night, Mr. Mamdani attended a vigil in Union Square hosted by Israelis for Peace, a group of activists in New York that calls for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
Sitting at the front of a crowd of more than 100 people, Mr. Mamdani listened as Israeli and Palestinian speakers echoed the messages in his statement.
“War crimes cannot justify other war crimes,” Tamar Glazerman, whose aunt was killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, said. Behind her, a banner draped over a metal railing read: “Stop the Genocide. Save Gaza. Free All Hostages.”
Mr. Cuomo’s campaign said that he also planned to attend an event on Tuesday marking the anniversary of the Hamas attacks and honoring the victims, though a spokesman did not provide more details.
While the conflict in Gaza has opened a rift across the country, it remains particularly divisive in New York, a starkly liberal city with the world’s largest Jewish population outside Israel and hundreds of thousands of Muslims.
The city has been home to frequent protests and vigils since Hamas’s attack, as well as rising rates of antisemitic and anti-Muslim violence and harassment.
Mr. Mamdani, who would be New York City’s first Muslim mayor if elected, met with a group of Palestinian New Yorkers on Sunday in Queens. On his Instagram account, Mr. Mamdani said he “listened to what they and their families have endured as the genocide in Gaza continues.”
Mr. Mamdani has consistently advocated for Palestinian rights and gone further than his rivals in criticizing Israel, a position that drew significant attention during the Democratic primary as Mr. Cuomo and others tried to chip away at his momentum.
Mr. Mamdani does not believe Israel should be an explicitly Jewish state and has supported the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, or B.D.S., an effort to try to pressure Israel to grant Palestinians full rights.
Tuesday’s anniversary comes at the end of a roughly two-week period in which Mr. Mamdani has made explicit overtures to Jewish voters, beginning with events around the High Holy Days.
Though his views on the conflict remain firm, Mr. Mamdani’s statement suggested an evolution that has taken place in the two years since the attacks. On Oct. 8, 2023, Mr. Mamdani, then a little-known state assemblyman, issued a short statement that forcefully criticized Israel’s declaration of war and said little about the hostages taken by Hamas.
American Jews are not monolithic, and even within denominations and congregations, there is often no consensus view on Israel’s actions in Gaza. Recent polls suggest Mr. Mamdani is winning the support of a substantial portion of Jewish New York.
In the year since Mr. Mamdani began running for mayor, American support for Israel has dropped dramatically. A New York Times/Siena poll last month found that slightly more voters sided with Palestinians over Israelis for the first time since The Times began asking voters about the issue in 1998.
In New York, a starkly liberal city, that shift was more pronounced. A poll last month found that 44 percent of registered New York City voters had greater sympathy for Palestinians, while 26 percent sympathized more with Israel.
Still, as he tries to gain an advantage in the race, Mr. Cuomo has repeatedly pointed to Mr. Mamdani’s past statements in hopes of fostering distrust among New York’s community of about 1 million Jews.
On Sunday, Mr. Cuomo once again attacked Mr. Mamdani for his initial refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which some see as a call for violence against Jews. Mr. Mamdani has said that he does not use the phrase and would discourage its use.
“Zohran Mamdani continues to play word games instead of showing moral clarity,” Mr. Cuomo said.
Talya Minsberg and Katie Glueck contributed reporting.
Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.
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