The candidates at Wednesday night’s debate seized upon an issue that’s dominated the discussion for weeks: whether Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, would be an ally to Jewish New Yorkers in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world.
Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who is running as an independent, accused Mr. Mamdani of stoking “the flames of hatred against Jewish people.” Mr. Mamdani pushed back, saying he has never supported “global jihad” and that the attacks against him are based on the fact that he is poised to become New York’s first mayor of Muslim faith.
The discussion didn’t break much new ground. The issue of Mr. Mamdani’s support for Jewish New Yorkers has become a central attack line for Mr. Cuomo. Mr. Mamdani’s bid has divided the Jewish community in the city, splintering families, synagogues and religious schools.
But the discussion reached a fever pitch this week, as rabbis from some of the largest synagogues in the city voiced their opposition to his candidacy.
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Park Avenue Synagogue used his weekly sermon on Saturday to attack Mr. Mamdani as a “danger to the security of the New York Jewish community.”
“A vote for Mamdani is a vote counter to Jewish interests,” he told his congregation, urging them to support Mr. Cuomo. “To delegitimize Israel, as Mamdani has repeatedly done, is for me an attack on my personhood as a Jew, as an American and as an American Jew.”
On Wednesday, over 650 rabbis from around the country signed an open letter saying that a victory by Mr. Mamdani would threaten “the safety and dignity of Jews in every city.” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, president of the New York Board of Rabbis and senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, and Rabbi Joshua Davidson, senior rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, where former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a member, also released video statements to their congregations raising concerns about Mr. Mamdani’s rhetoric and opposition to Israel as a Jewish state.
A series of polls have found that a majority of Jewish New Yorkers oppose Mr. Mamdani’s bid, with about one in three supporting him. Mik Moore, a liberal political activist and founder of “mensches for Mamdani,” posted his own open letter on social media this week, saying Mr. Mamdani had committed to protecting the safety of Jewish New Yorkers and accusing Rabbi Cosgrove of “old-fashioned bigotry.”
Lisa Lerer is a national political reporter for The Times, based in New York. She has covered American politics for nearly two decades.
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