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Ezra Klein’s NY Times Op-ed Distorts the Truth About the American Jewish Community
A taxi passes by in front of The New York Times head office, Feb. 7, 2013. Photo: Reuters / Carlo Allegri
Ezra Klein’s July 20th New York Times column paints Zohran Mamdani’s primary victory in Queens as evidence of a community in disarray — an evocative but fundamentally misleading diagnosis. He frames Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist and supporter of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” as a kind of Rorschach test for American Jews. Where some see antisemitism, others see progressive politics. Klein reads this divergence as proof that American Jewish life has collapsed into incoherence, unable even to agree on the meaning of antisemitism.
But the truth is not merely more complex — it’s more urgent. Mamdani’s rise isn’t just a matter of political disagreement or ideological diversity. It is a direct challenge to the foundational commitments of modern American Jewry.
In the heart of New York City — a place with the largest Jewish population outside Israel — Democratic voters elevated a candidate who has repeatedly refused to condemn calls for violence against Jews and who has embraced movements that explicitly reject Israel’s right to exist.
For American Jews, this isn’t a debate over tactics or nuance. It’s an existential breach. And Klein, in his determination to frame the moment as a story of pluralism and Jewish self-reinvention, distorts the stakes. He leans almost exclusively on institutional liberal voices who reflect his own worldview, while ignoring the clear and present threat Mamdani’s ideology poses — not only to Israel, but to Jews here in America. Worse, he misrepresents the facts on the ground and omits the voices of those most alarmed by the normalization of this rhetoric.
Mamdani is not just “controversial.” He has repeatedly aligned himself with anti-Zionist campaigns that veer into outright antisemitism. He has refused to distance himself from the slogan “globalize the intifada,” a call whose historical and contemporary connotations include suicide bombings, mass shootings, and civilian targeting. His supporters have included open advocates of political violence.
Yet in Klein’s telling, Mamdani becomes a symbol of generational change, while his most radical statements are hand-waved away or ignored altogether. This is not responsible analysis. It is narrative laundering.
In fact, Klein’s entire account reads like an effort to gaslight concerned Jews into thinking their fears are overblown or reactionary. But those fears are grounded in reality — and in data.
According to the 2024 American Jewish Committee (AJC) Survey of American Jewish Opinion — based on interviews conducted March 12 to April 6, 2024 — 85% of American Jews said US support for Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks was important, including 60% who said it was “very important.”
Among Jews aged 50 and older, 68% said Israel’s response to Hamas was acceptable, compared to just over half of younger adults. Additionally, fewer than one in four American Jews, even among younger cohorts, support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Crucially, a super majority — approximately 81% overall — say that caring about Israel is either very or somewhat important to what being Jewish means to them.
Moreover, the American Jewish Committee found that while Jews age 30 and over are more likely to say caring about Israel is “very important” to what being Jewish means to them compared to younger Jews between the ages of 18-29 (53% vs. 40%), this gap has narrowed significantly since October 7th. In 2023, 29% of young American Jews said caring about Israel was “very important” — with that figure climbing to 40% in 2024.
And the overwhelming connection to Israel in polls even takes into account differences with certain Israeli government policies. For example, 53% of Jewish Americans lack confidence in Netanyahu’s leadership, while 45% have confidence — yet they still say they are extremely invested in what is happening in Israel. This shows that support for Israel transcends disagreements about Israeli politics.
These numbers do not describe a community in collapse; rather, they depict one that — while diverse — retains a strong core of moral and political connection and interest in Israel.
Klein ignores this. He constructs his essay around rabbis and nonprofit professionals who share his ideological priors, as if theirs are the only Jewish perspectives that matter. Absent are Orthodox Jews, Sephardic Jews, Russian-speaking immigrants, Zionist progressives, or the large number of politically centrist Jews in New York who saw Mamdani’s victory as a five-alarm fire.
These omissions are not accidental — they are part of the essay’s architecture. By quoting only those who interpret Mamdani charitably, Klein builds a case that marginalizes Jewish alarm as overreaction and redefines antisemitism on his own narrow terms.
This is dangerous. We cannot afford to treat direct threats to Jewish safety and sovereignty as occasions for philosophical musing. Nor can we allow elite commentators to dictate the boundaries of legitimate Jewish concern — especially when those commentators minimize or rationalize hate. Klein’s selective sourcing is not just a stylistic failure; it is an surrender of moral responsibility.
I’ve argued that Mamdani’s refusal to disavow “intifada” chants, and the embrace he’s received from some Jewish leaders, reveal how moral clarity around antisemitism is being eroded in progressive spaces.
When a candidate declines to reject slogans historically tied to violence against Jews — and still wins support from parts of the Jewish institutional world — something foundational is breaking down. That breakdown is not about Jewish pluralism. It’s about the collapse of boundaries between debate and denial, between political disagreement and existential threat.
That conflation is now being amplified by figures like Klein, who treat any Jewish criticism of Mamdani as an obstacle to inclusivity rather than a valid and pressing concern. This is not a moment for neutral tones. The normalization of anti-Zionist extremism in the political mainstream is not a side issue. It’s a litmus test for whether we take Jewish security and dignity seriously.
In short, Klein’s framing doesn’t just misread the moment. It helps enable the very forces that threaten Jewish life in America. By casting disagreement over Mamdani as proof of “pluralism,” Klein erases the difference between healthy internal debate and the embrace of actors who reject the legitimacy of the Jewish State and traffic in language that too often ends in violence.
There is nothing pluralistic about a political space where Jews must justify their existence, where support for Israel is treated as shameful, and where candidates can win while embracing slogans tied to terrorism.
Yes, younger Jews are navigating identity in new ways. They are morally serious, politically engaged, and often skeptical of inherited institutions. But skepticism is not the same as antagonism, and what Klein fails to appreciate is that many of these same Jews still affirm Jewish peoplehood, care deeply about Israel, and want to see their values reflected in the communal conversation. What they do not want is to be told that embracing figures like Mamdani is a necessary part of that growth.
There is a path forward. It involves making space for generational shifts and political critique without capitulating to those who traffic in eliminationist rhetoric. It means drawing distinctions between policy debate and existential denial. And it requires that thought leaders and commentators confront uncomfortable facts — even when they conflict with ideological narratives.
Mamdani’s politics are not merely provocative. They are incompatible with Jewish safety and dignity. And any effort to obscure that — to soften it with euphemism or dress it up in pluralist language — is not analysis. It’s abdication.
Klein mourns the passing of an old institutional order. But he fails to see the real threat facing American Jews today: a political and intellectual elite that treats existential threats as abstractions, and smears moral clarity as parochialism.
Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
The post Ezra Klein’s NY Times Op-ed Distorts the Truth About the American Jewish Community first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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French Authorities Replant Memorial Olive Tree and Launch Seventh Ilan Halimi Award
A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas
French authorities planted a new olive tree on Wednesday to honor Ilan Halimi, nearly a decade after the young French Jewish man was tortured to death and two weeks after a previous commemorative tree was cut down.
Hervé Chevreau, mayor of the norther Paris suburb Épinay, announced that several olive trees will be replanted in Halimi’s memory, praising “a remarkable outpouring of solidarity” reflected in the donations.
With a commemorative ceremony on Wednesday, the first olive tree will be planted in Saint-Ouen, a northern suburb of Paris in the Île-de-France region.
“In the context of rising antisemitic acts, the community aims to reaffirm its steadfast commitment against hatred, forgetfulness, and indifference,” Chevreau said in a statement. “This gesture of reflection and resilience responds to the serious act of vandalism in Épinay-sur-Seine, where the commemorative tree was deliberately cut down.”
Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.
Three weeks later, he was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.
In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this month, the memorial was found felled — probably with a chainsaw — in Epinay-sur-Seine.
Halimi’s memory has faced attacks before, with two other trees planted in his honor vandalized in 2019 in Essonne.
During Wednesday’s ceremony, numerous prominent figures attended, including France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia, Yonathan Arfi, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, and Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination Aurore Bergé.
At the event, Bergé announced the launch of the seventh edition of the Ilan Halimi Award, marking 20 years since his disappearance.
Established in 2018, the award seeks to fight racism and antisemitism by inspiring young people to take action.
Since then, French authorities have annually recognized projects led by young people aged 13 to 25 from schools, universities, associations, and civic or integration programs.
“The launch of the 2026 edition of the Ilan Halimi Award in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois is more than an act of remembrance — it is a pledge to the future,” Bergé said during the ceremony.
Ils peuvent tronçonner un arbre, nous replanterons.
Ils peuvent abattre un arbre, nous ferons vivre la mémoire.Nous ne laisserons pas Ilan Halimi disparaître une nouvelle fois.
Le Prix Ilan Halimi 2026 est lancé. pic.twitter.com/Tn9SxlARJA
— Aurore Bergé (@auroreberge) September 2, 2025
Last week, two 19-year-old Tunisian twin brothers, undocumented and with prior convictions for theft and violence, were arrested in France for allegedly vandalizing and cutting down Halimi’s memorial.
Both brothers appeared in criminal court and were remanded in custody pending their trial, scheduled for Oct. 22.
They will face trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses that, according to prosecutors, carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.
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After Deadly Firebombing, Boulder Jews Forced to Hide Weekly Hostage March Due to Escalating Harassment
Boulder attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman poses for a jail booking photograph after his arrest in Boulder, Colorado, US, June 2, 2025. Photo: Boulder Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
A group of Jewish activists advocating for the Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza has announced plans to cease publicizing planned demonstrations and increase security in response to continued community intimidation in the months following a June 1 Molotov cocktail attack that left one person dead and 13 injured.
The group Run for Their Lives includes more than 230 chapters globally, and the one based in Boulder will now take extra measures to protect participants since the attack, for which authorities have charged alleged assailant Mohamed Sabry Soliman, which has in turn provoked further opposition.
Videos reviewed by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) show anti-Israel demonstrators calling event attendees “Nazi,” “racist,” and “genocidal c**t.”
A local politician running for city council has also demonized the hostage supporters.
CBS Colorado reported that Aaron Stone allegedly called Rachel Amaru, the chapter’s Jewish founder, a “Nazi,” a slur he defended as “a very strong word to use.” He further said that in looking at Amaru he was “not seeing a Jewish person” but rather “someone who is walking down the street talking about 20 hostages and ignoring the two million Palestinian hostages that are being kept in Gaza.”
Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, said in a statement that “participants are facing a level of harassment that makes it impossible to continue safely in public view.”
Stefanie Clarke, who serves as co-executive director of Stop Antisemitism Colorado, added in a statement that “it is unacceptable that less than three months after a deadly antisemitic attack, Jews in Boulder are once again being forced into hiding.”
Clarke stated that “we will not be intimidated, and we will not be driven out of public spaces where we should feel safe. The fact that someone seeking a seat on City Council is at the center of this harassment should be cause for alarm. Boulder cannot claim to be a city of inclusion and justice while giving a platform to Jew hate.”
The mountain states regional branch of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its own statement in support of the pro-Israel activists.
“We stand in firm solidarity with the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives following their difficult decision to no longer publicly disclose the location of their events,” the organization said. “It is deeply unfortunate that after enduring the horrific June 1 firebomb attack that resulted in the death of a community member, participants now face such persistent harassment that they must keep their gatherings secret to simply stay safe.”
On July 15, Soliman, who pleaded not guilty, waved his right to a preliminary hearing in a case where the 150 state charges and 12 federal charges include murder and attempted murder. He will see a judge on Tuesday for a scheduled arraignment and faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Prosecutors say that Soliman, an Egyptian who came to the United States on a B-2 Tourist Visa in August 2022, told police that “he wanted to kill all Zionist people” and that he sought to murder 20 of the demonstrators. A note found in his car read “Zionism is our enemies untill [sic] Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land.”
Soliman also reportedly said that he had planned the attack for a year and planned it for after his daughter’s graduation. Federal officials sought to deport Soliman’s family; however, a judge blocked that effort.
“This is a proper end to an absurd legal effort on the plaintiff’s part. Just like her terrorist husband, she and her children are here illegally and are rightfully in ICE [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] custody for removal as a result,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. “This terrorist will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it.”
In August, the ADL released a report ranking Colorado — which contains approximately 110,400 Jewish residents, accounting for 1.9 percent of the population — as eighth in the country for combating antisemitism.
“I am thrilled that the Anti-Defamation League has recognized Colorado as a national leader in fighting antisemitism, but there is much more to do,” the state’s governor Jared Polis said at the time. “Such hate and violence have no place in our Colorado for All, and that is why Colorado is leading the way to combat these trends and protect Coloradans’ right to worship how you want, making Colorado safer.”
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Lead Writer of Upcoming DC Comics Series Celebrated Oct. 7 Massacre in Resurfaced Social Media Posts
Gretchen Felker-Martin joins a virtual discussion from home. Photo: Screenshot
Gretchen Felker-Martin, an author and film critic who was recently announced as lead writer of the upcoming DC Comics series “Red Hood,” has an extensive history of endorsing terrorist acts and defending the murder of Jews and Israelis, according to a review of the writer’s social media posts.
In the posts — screenshots of which circulated on X/Twitter and other platforms this week — Felker-Martin appeared to praise Osama bin Laden for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US and expressed support for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
During the Oct. 7 onslaught, as Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages in the deadliest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, Felker-Martin argued that Israeli civilians are “settlers” and an “occupying force whose daily lives serve to grind out the hope, culture, and memory of those they oppress.” She also seemingly defended Hamas’s murdering of Israeli babies, saying that Israel is an “imperialist nightmare” and that Hamas is trying to “survive their rule by any means necessary.”
Hamas is designated by several countries as a terrorist organization.
“You cannot subject human beings to brutal conditions under which no hope for a meaningful future exists and then blame them for violent action taken to correct this state. Free Palestine,” she wrote on Oct. 7.
Later that month, Felker-Martin wrote that “Zionism is full-fledged Nazism and has accrued mainstream support throughout the west because of that, not in spite of it.”
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As the ensuing war in Gaza continued in the months ahead, Felker-Martin sharpened her criticisms of Israel, condemning Zionists as “crazy” and comparing them to “slime.” The writer also lambasted Neil Druckmann, the Israeli creator of the popular “The Last of Us” video game series, for being a “Zionist.” She encouraged fellow progressives not to support then-US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, condemning Harris for not “moving an inch on the genocide.” She also falsely accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza and repudiated actress Hailee Steinfeld as a “Zionist piece of s**t.” Steinfeld has seemingly not made public statements about Israel but came under fire from leftists after she visited the Jewish state with family in 2019 for a party.
Felker-Martin separately defended Osama bin Laden’s role in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, writing that “blowing up the World Trade Center is probably the most principled and defensible thing he ever did.”
Jewish organizations and antisemitism watchdog groups quickly condemned the remarks. StandWithUs, a nonpartisan pro-Israel organization, urged DC Comics to reconsider hiring Felker-Martin, citing her inflammatory and offensive commentary.