Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday sought to create a wall between his leadership of New York City and the private views of his wife, Rama Duwaji, after being asked about her social media activity surrounding the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Ms. Duwaji liked posts on Instagram that were supportive of the Palestinian cause immediately after the attacks, in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage, according to the Israeli authorities. Israeli military forces responded with military action in Gaza that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The mayor said his wife’s views should not be subject to broad public scrutiny. They were not married when she liked the posts; the couple wed in early 2025, and he did not enter the Democratic primary for mayor until October 2024.
“My wife is the love of my life and she’s also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall,” Mr. Mamdani said during an unrelated news conference Friday morning. “I, however, was elected to represent all eight and a half million people in this city, and I believe that it’s my responsibility, because of that role, to answer any questions about my thoughts and my policies and my decisions.”
Mr. Mamdani was responding to a Jewish Insider article that highlighted a handful of instances in which Ms. Duwaji had liked Instagram posts supportive of the Palestinian cause immediately after the Oct. 7 attacks.
One post, shared by an account called The Slow Factory, a social justice nonprofit, on the day of the Hamas attack, showed a bulldozer that appeared to breach the barrier between Israel and Gaza. The caption read, “Breaking the walls of apartheid and military occupation” with the date of the attack beneath.
Ms. Duwaji, who is Syrian-American, liked the post. She did not comment for the Jewish Insider article. A City Hall spokeswoman on Friday told The New York Times that Ms. Duwaji had no comment.
In another example, she liked an Instagram post that showed people celebrating atop what appeared to be an Israeli military vehicle with the words “Free Palestine” beneath it. The article also included posts she liked that described resistance as an act of “self-defense” and a “human right” for people under occupation.
Mr. Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor and a democratic socialist, has long criticized Israel and defended Palestinians — an issue that inspired him to get into politics. He has described the war in Gaza as genocide and has said he does not believe Israel should be a Jewish state.
His positions became a flashpoint in the mayor’s race, with his lead rival, Andrew M. Cuomo, and a super PAC supporting him spending significant time and millions of dollars in ads implying Mr. Mamdani was antisemitic.
Sophie Ellman-Golan, director of strategic communications at Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, a progressive organizing group for the Jewish left, said that Mr. Mamdani has been clear about his views regarding Israel and the war in Gaza.
“He has been really outspoken in calling for a cease-fire and freedom and safety for Palestinians and Israelis alike,” Ms. Ellman-Golan said, “while mourning those killed in the horrific attack on Oct. 7 and also being extremely clear in mourning the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed.”
The Anti-Defamation League created a “Mamdani Monitor” website after Mr. Mamdani’s victory last year to track his administration for actions that might be considered antisemitic. The group insisted it was necessary in response to his “long, disturbing record on issues of deep concern to the Jewish community.” An A.D.L. spokesman declined to comment on Ms. Duwaji’s social media activity.
Public officials have faced questions over the political activities or other actions of a spouse or partner, most recently earlier this week. The Times reported that Corinne Levy Goldman, the wife of Representative Daniel Goldman of New York, liked or reposted social media posts from several right-wing accounts that some saw as hateful or insensitive toward Palestinians and Black people.
Ms. Goldman, 47, is a lawyer who grew up in an Orthodox family. She met Mr. Goldman at a 2012 event for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Ms. Ellman-Golan said it was unfair to equate Ms. Duwaji’s social media likes with those of Ms. Goldman’s, in part because Mr. Goldman’s wife serves as his campaign treasurer while Ms. Duwaji had no official role in Mr. Mamdani’s campaign for mayor.
“It is neither new information that the mayor’s wife cares about Palestinians,” Ms. Ellman-Golan said, “nor is it new information that the mayor is committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including Jewish New Yorkers.”
Jeffery C. Mays is a Times reporter covering politics with a focus on New York City Hall.
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