This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 13 days to the election.

Tonight’s debate

• The candidates will reunite for a second and final debate tonight, just days before early voting starts on Saturday.

• It’s the last chance for Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa to take the stage with Zohran Mamdani, who has held a double-digit polling lead for months.

• Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, called for the moderators to ask candidates about their approach to antisemitism. “It is vital all candidates get on the record and publicly lay out their strategy for how they will keep Jewish New Yorkers safe during this unprecedented time,” he said.

• His demand came as the ADL released a report this morning that found “hundreds of incidents of harassment, vandalism and physical violence targeting members of New York’s Jewish community” in 2025. The report did not include a number of incidents, but said they are growing in “both frequency and intensity.”

• The ADL told us they want the candidates to answer three questions: how they will ensure the safety of Jewish constituents; what message they give to Jewish New Yorkers who are anxious about rising antisemitism; and what response they give to Jews who “consider the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ to be a call for violence against Israelis/Jews worldwide.”

• The last question targets Mamdani, who declined to condemn the protest slogan during the primary, but has since said he would “discourage” the term and acknowledged that it incited fear in some Jewish New Yorkers. Greenblatt has attacked Mamdani for his stance on Israel and previously said the candidate would not condemn the phrase because “he believes it.”

• You can catch the debate live at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Spectrum News NY1 and WNYC radio. There will also be a livestream on YouTube. In the first debate last week, antisemitism and Israel figured prominently.

Following the money

• Neighborhoods with large Jewish communities funneled money into Cuomo’s campaign over the two days after incumbent Mayor Eric Adams quit the race, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign contributions.

• Cuomo’s largest concentration of donors came from a ZIP code covering Gravesend in Brooklyn, with more than 90 individual donors, followed by Midwood with more than 80 donors, the data showed.

• Gravesend and Midwood are both home to dense Jewish populations. Some may have rallied around Cuomo as he became the principal competitor to Mamdani, whose views on Israel alienated many older, Orthodox and more moderate or conservative Jews.

• Gravesend is the epicenter of a movement to get Syrian Jews to vote, which has included requirements for voter registration to enroll in yeshivas or attend synagogue.

• Many voters in the area supported President Donald Trump in 2024 and are Sephardic Jews with roots in Syria or originate from the former Soviet Union, which could influence their views of Mamdani as a democratic socialist.

• Cuomo also received contributions from nearly 200 people across three ZIP codes on the Upper East Side and 175 people in two Upper West Side ZIP codes.

Endorsement tracker

• Rep. Dan Goldman, a Jewish Democrat who represents swaths of Manhattan and Brooklyn, said on Tuesday that he was “not ready” to endorse Mamdani as Election Day approaches.

• Asked by CNN’s Kasie Hunt if he was going to vote for Mamdani, Goldman said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do, to be honest.”

• Goldman elaborated, “I am very concerned about some of the rhetoric coming from Zohran Mamdani, and I can tell you as a Jew in New York, who was in Israel on Oct. 7, I and many other people are legitimately scared because there has been violence in the name of anti-Israel and anti-Zionism. And I’ve asked him to speak out on that and to condemn that and I frankly haven’t really seen him do much on that.”

• In August, Goldman said he had a “good conversation” with Mamdani but would not endorse the party nominee until he took “concrete steps” to assuage the fears of Jewish New Yorkers.

• Meanwhile, Rabbi Michael S. Miller, the longtime head of New York’s Jewish Community Relations Council, has backed Cuomo in his first political endorsement, joining multiple rabbis in departing from their past practices to weigh in.

• Miller cited Mamdani’s Israel views, saying the frontrunner “would put at risk the residents of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.”

Cuomo says he would give Sliwa a job

• Cuomo suggested he would give Sliwa a job in his mayoral administration if the Republican nominee dropped out to help him beat Mamdani, when asked by the Jewish conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg yesterday.

• “That would be something that I would be interested in. We need a coalition to run this city. We need New Yorkers to come together,” Cuomo told Rosenberg.

• It’s the kind of scenario that attendees at a synagogue meeting on Sunday pitched to Sliwa in an effort to convince him to exit the race. Sliwa rebuffed them and remains defiant against mounting pressure from Cuomo and anti-Mamdani New Yorkers. “Let’s be very clear: I am not dropping out, under no circumstances,” he said at a press conference on the Upper West Side on Tuesday. “I’ve already been offered money to drop out. I said, ‘No.’”

Mamdani attacked over imam meeting

• Cuomo and Sliwa are attacking Mamdani over his recent photo of a meeting with Siraj Wahhaj, a well-known imam in Brooklyn.

• The New York Post covered Wahhaj’s opposition to homosexuality and his characterization as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, though Wahhaj was never charged and the list he appeared on was criticized as overly broad.

• Political experts told Jewish Insider that the backlash to Mamdani’s meeting with Wahhaj is unlikely to influence the election amid a generational shift. “Dead cops and firefighters don’t seem to matter much these days,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic consultant who leads an anti-Mamdani super PAC.

• Mamdani has said the criticism is discriminatory. “The same imam met with Mayor Bloomberg, met with Mayor De Blasio, campaigned alongside Eric Adams, and the only time it became an issue of national attention was when I met with him because of the fact of my faith and because I’m on the precipice of winning this election,” he told reporters, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

—
The post ADL calls for antisemitism questions as NYC mayoral candidates debate for a 2nd and final time appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Rokas Jokubaitis and Kevin Punter play during the match between FC Barcelona and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague at the Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 5, 2025. Photo: Urbanandsport via Reuters Connect

Israeli basketball teams, sports officials, and President Isaac Herzog applauded the announcement on Tuesday that EuroLeague and EuroCup basketball games will return to Israel starting Dec. 1, following a two-year hiatus in which Israeli teams played their “home” matches throughout Europe due to the war with Hamas in Gaza.

“This is the right move. It is an important move,” Herzog said. “I call on all sports organizations around the world, in all sports: it is time to strengthen the shared spirit of sport, and the message that sport connects people, rather than divides them. Sport serves as a bridge of hope, fairness, and fraternity. Let’s play!!”

Herzog sent a letter to EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejūnas earlier this week, officially requesting the immediate return of EuroLeague games in Israel, the president shared.

Since the start of the Gaza war following the Hamas-led Palestinian terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Jewish state has been playing EuroLeague and EuroCup games in neutral venues outside of the country. Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA) member clubs met on Tuesday to discuss the current situation in Israel and Gaza, following the recently announced ceasefire, and after “thoughtful deliberation,” ECA clubs decided to resume games in Israel in December, they announced in a released statement.

“Until then, Euroleague Basketball will continue to carefully monitor developments, stay in close contact with local and foreign authorities, visiting teams, and all relevant organizations … and ensure that the safety and well-being of everyone involved remain the top priority,” the statement read. “Euroleague Basketball and its participating clubs welcome the recent peace plan with optimism and hope. The organization reaffirms its belief in the power of basketball to bring people and communities together, and its commitment to contributing to peace through the shared values of sport, respect, and unity.”

Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar said the decision “reflects the new international reality Israel is in following the signing of the agreement to bring the hostages home.”

“Sport is a bridge that connects us all, and the return of the games carries with it a powerful and meaningful message,” he added in a statement shared with The Algemeiner. “The State of Israel warmly welcomes the teams, athletes, staff, and fans who will be arriving in Israel.”

The last European basketball game played in Israel took place on Oct. 5, 2023, a mere two days before the Hamas-led massacre in Israel. Maccabi Tel Aviv, six-time champions, and Hapoel Tel Aviv are the Israeli basketball teams in this season’s Euroleague, while Hapoel Jerusalem is competing in the EuroCup.

“With the announcement of the end of the war, behind the scenes began strong work against the Euroleague in collaboration with all the factors in order to return the games to Israel as quickly as possible,” said Hapoel Jerusalem. “We are happy that the efforts have paid off, and after more than two years of wandering – we are coming home.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv thanked EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejūnas, the organization’s management, and all EuroLeague clubs “for their understanding and support.” The team’s owner, Ofer Yannay, said the move “is an important step towards returning to normality, and it is especially exciting to know that our fans will once again be able to attend EuroLeague games up close, right where they belong.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv said it had been working quietly “behind the scenes” to enable Motiejūnas to make the decision to resume top European basketball competitions to Israel.

“This is an achievement of great importance for Israeli sports and the State of Israel, also from a diplomatic perspective,” the team stated. “The Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club has proven once again that it is one of the leading and most influential forces in European sports. We will meet soon at the arena.”

Ari Steinberg, president of the Israel Basketball Super League, said: “This is a right and fair decision in favor of European basketball and the joy of hundreds of thousands of fans in Israel.”

“Over the past few weeks, we have done everything we could, working with clubs and other partners, to bring matches home, and I am delighted that these efforts have paid off,” Steinberg noted. “We all hope that FIBA [International Basketball Federation] will also make a similar decision and will announce the return of the Champions League games (BCL) and national team games as soon as possible. This is an important moment for all of Israeli sports. Am Yisrael Chai (Long Live Israel).”

Disturbed performs during The Sickness 25th Anniversay Tour at The Amerant Bank Arena Featuring: David Draiman, Disturbed Where: Sunrise, Florida, United States When: 18 Apr 2025. Photo: Robert Bell/INSTARimages via Reuters Connect

Disturbed lead singer David Draiman had some choice works for actor John Cusack after the latter criticized him for writing “F–k Hamas” on an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) artillery shell last year.

The “Serendipity” actor, who has been accused of antisemitism in the past, shared on X early Tuesday morning a picture of Draiman writing the expletive for Hamas while visiting IDF soldiers in Israel in June 2024. The Jewish musician – who has been vocally supportive of Israel and the IDF following the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – shared the same image on social media last year.

Cusack reposted a message on X that included the photo and called for the cancellation of Disturbed’s concert on Wednesday in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the heavy metal band’s world tour. The actor wrote in the caption, “Anyone who signs a bomb is pyycotic [sic].”

The “Sound of Silence” singer responded to Cusack’s post by telling the “Must Love Dogs” actor, “You want psychotic? Look in the mirror.”

“It isn’t psychotic to defend oneself from a genocidal death cult, hell bent on slaughtering you,” he explained, referring to the terrorist group Hamas, which openly seeks to destroy Israel. “What’s psychotic, is you defending that genocidal, Jew hating death cult, the way you have for years.”

Photo: Screenshot

The watchdog group StopAntisemitism named Cusack its “Antisemite of the Week” in January 2024 after he repeatedly denied the mass sexual violence inflicted upon Israeli civilians during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks; claimed Hamas was a charitable organization “funded and supported” by Israel; and claimed the IDF participated in the Oct. 7 massacre. The American actor, writer, and producer has accused Israel of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and previously called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “Zionist pig.” He also once said that he looks at the obituaries of Zionists with “great pleasure.”

In June, Cusack wrote on X: “Iran will surely rush to get a nuclear weapon- and they should get one – it’s the only way to deter US and Israel from bombing every country in Middle East.”

Draiman has never been hesitant to call out others who have been critical of Israel and the Jewish people. He has criticized Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters several times for his anti-Israel views and called rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, a “pathetic Jew hater without a soul” for his promotion of Nazi swastikas. Draiman has also spoken in the past about losing friends in the music industry because of his unwavering support for Israel, especially after the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas-led terrorists murdered more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostages back to Gaza.