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Blinken: US will judge Israeli government on its policies, not its politicians
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration will base its relationship to Israel’s incoming government on the actions it takes, not the people installed in positions of power, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a speech Sunday.
Blinken’s speech, to the conference of the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group J Street, was notable because it offered the first official response to deepening questions about how the White House would work with a Israeli government that includes far-right parties. Until now, sources close to the administration had suggested that the White House could decline to meet with those parties’ leaders.
Blinken said the Biden administration would “continue to unequivocally oppose any acts that undermine the prospects of a two-state solution, including, but not limited to, settlement expansion; moves toward annexation of the West Bank; disruption to the historic status quo at holy sites; demolitions and evictions; and incitement to violence.”
The speech drew criticism from some J Street followers for stopping short of dealing firmly with an incoming Israeli government that they feel is taking aim at some of Israel’s core democratic principles.
“I had zero expectations for Blinken’s speech. And he couldn’t even meet those,” said Richard Goldwasser, a former J Street board member from Chicago, on Twitter. “Pablum on Xanax.”
The theme of J Street’s conference this year was battling anti-democratic forces in Israel and in the United States. Jeremy Ben-Ami, in his opening speech Saturday night, unveiled the group’s new motto, “Pro Israel, pro-peace, pro democracy”; the “pro-democracy” element was new. Ben-Ami drew a contrast with J Street’s main rival, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
AIPAC drew liberal Jewish criticism after its launch last year of political action committees that back an array of candidates, ranging from progressive to far right. It has also declined to comment on the likely inclusion in Netanyahu’s government of far right extremists, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, a disciple of the late racist rabbi Meir Kahane.
“So rather than focusing on defeating the white nationalists and the election deniers, with whom most of Jewish America has nothing in common, they instead are spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat liberal and progressive candidates who may or may not have once in their lives uttered a critical word about Israeli policy,” Ben-Ami said. “Organizations that failed to call out the Ben-Gvirs and the [Bezalel] Smotriches of Israel while endorsing the Jim Jordans, the Andy Biggs, the Scott Perrys here in the U.S. do not speak for us.”
Perry of Pennsylvania, Biggs of Arizona and Jordan of Ohio have all to varying degrees endorsed the election lies by President Donald Trump that spurred the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
J Street’s conference was focused on democracy in the United States at times to the exclusion of the issue that founded the organization in 2008, Israeli-Palestinian peace. In a 30-minute keynote speech Saturday night, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Jewish Democratic congressman from Maryland known for his constitutional expertise, barely mentioned Israel.
“I know that you know what it means to be pro-Israel and pro-peace,” Raskin said. “And I want to just discuss for my time with you tonight what it means to be a pro-democracy American in 2022 in a rather frightful world where so many people have turned to propaganda and conspiracy theory and disinformation and fanaticism and authoritarianism.” He was interrupted multiple times by applause.
AIPAC mocked J Street for its absence of conventional pro-Israel content. “Not a word of praise for Israel,” the organization said in a tweet attached to a photo of Ben-Ami speaking at the conference. “Not a single recognition of Israel’s achievements or value. Not a single embrace of the Israeli people.”
Noa, the Israeli singer-songwriter, also appeared on Saturday night, singing songs that had been penned by Palestinian-Israelis. She likened the relationship of the Jewish Diaspora to Israel to that of a mother to a daughter, saying that mothers need to look out for the children, whatever tensions may arise.
“The Jewish people needs to help the maturing child,” she said, reflecting a theme that it repeated itself throughout the conference: that a voice like J Street was especially needed at a time of crisis in its democracy. “The worst thing we could do is walk away,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the director of T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights group.
Blinken did speak about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reflecting the pessimistic mood in the room but saying that he believed progress could still be achieved.
“I know that many people are disillusioned,” he said. “Many people are frustrated. We’ve been trying to get to a two-state solution for decades, and yet it seems that we’ve only gotten further away from that goal. But we cannot afford to give up hope. We cannot succumb to cynicism. We cannot give in to apathy. It’s precisely when times are difficult — when peace seems even further from reach — that we’ve simply got to work harder, that we must continue to pursue whatever openings we can to show that progress is still possible.”
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Feds charge man with organizing synagogue attacks in Europe and NYC on behalf of Iran
(JTA) — An Iraqi man who was recently arrested in Turkey has been charged with plotting an array of attacks against Jewish targets, including on a synagogue in New York City, in response to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
A criminal complaint that was unsealed on Friday claims that Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, is a commander in the Iraq-based Kataib Hezbollah that functions as a proxy for Iran. The complaint was unsealed when al-Saadi appeared in federal court in Manhattan.
The complaint alleges that al-Saadi is responsible in part for organizing the attacks in Europe that have been claimed by a new group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya. It marks the first major disclosure of intelligence information tying the group directly to the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and includes multiple photographs of al-Saadi meeting in person with IRGC leaders.
Attacks that al-Saadi organized include 18 in Europe that Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya publicly claimed, as well as the stabbing of two Jews in London last month, the complaint alleges. He also organized multiple attacks in Canada that were carried out and plotted others that did not take place, the complaint alleged.
Al-Saadi is charged with six crimes, including conspiracy to provide support for acts of terror and conspiracy to provide support for a foreign terrorist organization. (The Trump administration declared the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2019.) He did not speak during his first court appearance on Friday, according to The New York Times, which reported that his attorney called him “a political prisoner and prisoner of war.”
“As alleged in the complaint, Al-Saadi directed and urged others to attack U.S. and Israeli interests and to kill Americans and Jews in the U.S. and abroad, and in doing so advance the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on Friday. “These charges show American law enforcement will never let such evil go unchecked and will use all tools to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations and their leaders.”
The incidents targeting Jews came amid warnings that Iran, which has a long record of organizing terror attacks abroad, would retaliate against the United States, Israel and Jews around the world.
The complaint, reflecting a sworn affidavit from Kathryn McDonald, an FBI special agent, says al-Saadi offered to pay online contacts $10,000 to stage attacks on U.S. Jewish targets.
According to the criminal complaint, al-Saadi sent a $3,000 down payment in cryptocurrency to an agent who was posing as someone willing to stage attacks on Jewish targets in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, in April.
Al-Saadi allegedly told the agent that “things are working for us here” in Europe but that he was looking for more assistance in the United States and Canada. He shared a picture of what the complaint says is a “prominent Jewish synagogue” in New York and said he had selected it as a target because it supported “the right for Israel to exist.” The agent initially agreed to stage an attack but stopped communicating with al-Saadi after sending a picture showing that the synagogue was guarded by police officers.
The Community Security Initiative, a group coordinating security for Jews in New York, sent a “community security bulletin” on Friday after al-Saadi appeared in federal court in Manhattan, saying that the arrest did not come as a surprise.
“CSI has been in contact with FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York since April 2026 regarding this plot, and they have been keeping us apprised as events have evolved,” CEO Mitchell Silber said in the bulletin. He added, “At this time, we are not at liberty to disclose the targeted location.”
Kataib Hezbollah is the group that abducted and held a Russian-Israeli Princeton University researcher, Elizabeth Tsurkov, for more than two years until September. Following the revelation of al-Saadi’s arrest, she praised the FBI agents who worked the case, including one who also investigated her kidnapping.
“This ginger angel kept doggedly working my case because she knew I needed her and she knew that solving the case would help US national security interests. Indeed, owing to the incredible stupidity of my torturers, they provided me with a plethora of information about their operations, which I happily provided to the FBI after my release,” Tsurkov tweeted. “The American people are lucky to have such dedicated agents helping to keep them safe.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Feds charge man with organizing synagogue attacks in Europe and NYC on behalf of Iran appeared first on The Forward.
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A floating wooden synagogue at the 2026 Venice Biennale
דאָס איז איינער פֿון אַ סעריע קורצע אַרטיקלען אָנגעשריבן אױף אַ רעלאַטיװ גרינגן ייִדיש און געצילעװעט אױף סטודענטן. די מחברטע איז אַלײן אַ ייִדיש־סטודענטקע. דאָ קען מען לײענען די פֿריִערדיקע אַרטיקלען אין דער סעריע.
הײַיאָר צום דריטן מאָל לאָזט זיך ייִדיש באַמערקן בײַ דער באַרימטער אױסשטעלונג אין ווענעציע, איטאַליע — „װענעציער ביענאַלײ“, װאָס האָט זיך אָנגעהויבן דעם 9סטן מײַ און װעט זיך ענדיקן דעם 22סטן נאָװעמבער. ייִדיש שפּילט נישט קײן אָפֿיציעלע ראָלע אין דער אױסשטעלונג, און דאָס איז טאַקע דער עיקר. די אױסשטעלונג ווערט אָרגאַניזירט לויט לענדער, און אַװדאי איז ייִדיש קײן מאָל נישט געװען די הויפּטשפּראַך פֿון קײן לאַנד.
ייִדיש מאַכט אַ רושם בײַם ביענאַלײ אַ דאַנק דעם „ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן“, װאָס איז אױסגעטראַכט געװאָרן אין 2022 פֿון דער קוראַטאָרשע מאַריע װײַץ און דעם קינסטלער יעװגעני פֿיקס. דער „פּאַװיליאָן“ איז אַ סעריע אױסשטעלונגען און אױפֿטריטן װאָס קומען פֿאָר אין עטלעכע ערטער איבער װענעציע, אַרום די ראַנדן פֿון דער אָפֿיציעלער ביענאַלײ.
דאָס װאָרט „פּאַװיליאָן“ אין „ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן“ איז אַן איראָנישער קאָמענטאַר אױף די פֿיזישע פּאַװיליאָנען װאָס דער ביענאַלײ גיט צו 100 לענדער אין 2026, כּדי אױסצושטעלן אַ גאַמע קונסטװערק. אין קאָנטראַסט איז דער ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן „געבױט“ אין גאַנצן פֿון אידעען.
אין זומער 2025 האָב איך אינטערװיויִרט װײַץ און פֿיקס װעגן דעם ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן, װאָס איז דעמאָלט בײַגעװען בײַם ביענאַלײ. אין אונדזער אינטערװיו האָבן װײַץ און פֿיקס דערקלערט די צילן פֿונעם פּאַװיליאָן: בקיצור װילן זײ זײַן אין סתּירה מיטן ביענאַלײס טראָפּ אױף לענדער און נאַציאָנאַליזם, װאָס שליסט אױס די ייִדישע קולטור און אַנדערע מינאָריטעט־קולטורן װאָס זענען באַזירט אױף שפּראַכן.
װײַץ און פֿיקס, און די קינסטלער װאָס אַרבעטן מיט זײ, זאָגן אױך אָפּ די באַגריפֿן װאָס באַגלײטן אַ פֿאָקוס אױף לענדער. אַנשטאָט גרענעצן, פֿאַראינטערעסירן זײ זיך מיטן קולטורעלן קאָנטאַקט און צונױפֿשמעלץ. דערמיט שפּיגלען זײ אָפּ די דערפֿאַרונגען פֿון דורות ייִדיש־רעדערס, װאָס האָבן אָפֿט געװױנט װי דרױסנדיקע אין דער גלאָבאַלער סיסטעם פֿון לענדער. די קולטור װאָס די דאָזיקע ייִדיש־רעדערס האָבן געשאַפֿן, ספּעציעל אינעם ערשטן העלפֿט פֿונעם 20סטן יאָרהונדערט, איז געװען טיף פֿאַרװאָרצלט אין ייִדישע טראַדיציעס — אָבער אױך היבריד און צופּאַסיק. זי האָט בכּיוון אַרײַנגעמישט השפּעות פֿון פֿאַרשײדענע שפּראַכן, אידענטיטעטן און קולטורעלע באַװעגונגען.
אָט דער דאָזיקער גײַסט פֿון אָפֿנקײט און צופּאַסיקײט — פֿון די מעגלעכקײטן פֿון פֿליסיקע גרענעצן — האָט אינספּירירט די ייִדישלאַנד־פּאַװיליאָנען פֿון 2022 און 2025, און נאָך אַ מאָל אין 2026.
פֿון איצט ביזן 16טן סעפּטעמבער װעט דער ייִדיש־פּאַװיליאָן אױסשטעלן „די װערטער װאָס פּאַסן זיך צו מײַן מױל“. ער געפֿינט זיך אין דרײַ ערטער אַרום װענעציע, אַרײַננעמדיק אין דער אַלטער ייִדישער געטאָ. זי באַשטײט פֿון פֿיר טײלן, װאָס פֿאַרנעמען זיך אַלע מיט דער „איבערזעצונג“, סײַ צװישן שפּראַכן סײַ צװישן קולטורן און קאָנטעקסטן:
- „איך בין נישט מסכּים“, פֿון אַרנדט בעק. דער פּראָיעקט פֿאָרשט אױס, דורך צײכענונגען און קאָלאַזש־פּאָסטקאַרטלעך, דאָס לעבן פֿון דער ייִדיש־רעדנדיקער אַנאַרכיסטקע מילי װיטקאָפּ (1877־1955), װאָס איז געבױרן געװאָרן אין אוקראַיִנע און האָט געאַרבעט מערסטנס אין לאָנדאָן. בעק באַזינגט אױף ייִדיש און אַנדערע שפּראַכן װיטקאָפּס איבערגעגעבנקײט צו אַרבעטער־ און מענטשנרעכט.
- „לידער פֿאַר טײַכן“, פֿון ליליאַנאַ פֿאַרבער. דאָס קונסטװערק איז באַזירט אױף ייִדישע לידער װעגן טײַכן, װאָס שטאַמען פֿון יזכּור־ביכער — די בענד געשאַפֿן נאָכן חורבן צו פֿאַראײביקן דעם אָנדענק פֿון די פֿאַרטיליקטע ייִדישע שטעט און שטעטלעך. אין אַ סעריע גראַפֿישע װערק האָט פֿאַרבער אַראַנזשירט די װערטער פֿון יעדן ליד כּדי נאָכצופֿאָלגן די קאָנטורן פֿונעם טײַך, װאָס דאָס ליד באַשרײַבט.
- ליולינקע, מײַן פֿײגעלע, פֿון מאַשאַ שפּרײַזער. דער פּראָיעקט באַשטײט פֿון פֿאַרשײדענע אַלטע שטוב־טעקסטילן אַזױ װי ציכלעך און טיכלעך, מיט װערטער פֿון ייִדישע לידער געמאָלט אױף זײ. די טעקסטילן האָט מען פֿריִער געצירעװעט. מסתּמא האָבן דאָס פֿרױען געטאָן. דער טיטל פֿונעם װערק פֿאַררופֿט זיך אױף אַ ייִדיש װיגליד. בײַנאַנד מיט די טעקסטילן געפֿינען זיך בײַשפּילן פֿון װענעציער שפּיצן (דאָס שאַפֿן פּרעכטיקע שפּיצן איז אַ שטאָט־טראַדיציע). צוזאַמען דערמאָנען די אָביעקטן אין װײַבערשער אַרבעט, און אין װײַבערשע לעבנס און מעשׂיות.
- „אַלטמאָדיש“, פֿון לײלאַ אַבדעלראַזאַק. די דאָזיקע װידעאָ־קונסט פֿאַרנעמט זיך מיט דער צוקונפֿט פֿון אַראַביש אין פּאַלעסטינע און ישׂראל. יעװגעני פֿיקס האָט דערקלערט׃ „פֿילשפּראַכיקײט איז געװען כאַראַקטעריסטיש פֿאַרן ייִדישן לעבן אין מיזרח־אײראָפּע, װוּ אַ סך געבױרענע ייִדיש־רעדערס האָבן פֿליסיק גערעדט אַנדערע שפּראַכן. אַבדעלראַזאַק װױנט אױך צװישן שפּראַכן — אַראַביש, העברעיִש און ענגליש — װאָס זענען אַלע אַ טײל פֿון איר פֿילזײַטיקער אידענטיטעט. איר קונסט פֿאָרשט אױס װי אַזױ די פּאָליטיק פֿון שפּראַך אין אַ פֿאַרשײדנאַרטיקער קולטור.“
דעם 16טן יולי װעט זיך עפֿענען „נבטעלע“ פֿון אַנאַ קאַמײַשאַן. בײַ דער דאָזיקער דרױסנדיקער אינסטאַלירונג (װאָס װערט פּרעזענטירט צוזאַמען מיטן ייִדישן מוזײ אין מאָנטרעאָל) װעט מען אױפֿהײבן אין דער לופֿט אַ גרױסן מאָדעל פֿון אַ הילצערנער שיל פֿון מיזרח־אײראָפּע. דער מאָדעל איז פֿול מיט העליום, און נאָר אַ דאַנק שטריק שװעבט ער נישט אַװעק. די שיל אינעם מאָדעל זיצט אױף אַ באַזע פֿון ריזיקע פֿעלדזן. אין דער שיל שײַנט אַ ליכט װאָס גײט קײן מאָל נישט אױס.
דער טיטל „נבטעלע“ שטאַמט פֿון אַ סלאַװיש װאָרט װאָס דערמאָנט אין סכּנה אָדער באַאומרויִקן זיך. ער פֿאַררופֿט זיך אױך אױף תּנכיש העברעיִש, װוּ „נבט“ מײנט „נאָענט אָנקוקן“. אַ „נבטעלע“, מיטן ייִדישן דימינוטיװ „-עלע“, איז עפּעס װײכער װי בײדע װערטער — אָבער אױך צװײטײַטשיק.
אין „נבטעלע“ זעט מען אַ סך סתּירות, אַזױ װי דעם קאָנטראַסט צװישן דעם װאָג פֿון אַ בנין װאָס זיצט אױף פֿעלדזן, און דער אָנװאָגיקײט פֿונעם מאָדעל אַלײן; און אױך צװישן דעם צער צוליב דער פֿאַרטיליקונג פֿון אַלע הילצערנע שילן פֿון די נאַציס, און דער האָפֿענונג סימבאָליזירט פֿונעם אײביקן ליכט אין דער שיל. צי איז די שיל אַרױסגעריסן געװאָרן פֿון דער אַלטער הײם, אָדער טראָגט זי די הײם מיט איר?
מען דאַרף אױך דערמאָנען אַ טײל פֿונעם ייִדישלאַנד־פּאַװיליאָן װאָס האָט זיך שױן געענדיקט. בעת די ערשטע טעג פֿונעם ביענאַלײ האָט עליאַנאַ פּליסקין דזשײקאָבס אױסגעפֿירט אין עפֿנטלעכע ערטער אַרום װענעציע איר „טאַנצן צװישן נאַ און נאַד“. זי האָט געאַנצט און געזונגען ייִדישע לידער װעגן װאָגלעניש און גלות — טײלװײַז אױפֿן אָריגינעל ייִדיש און טײלװײַז איבערגעזעצט אױף אַנדערע שפּראַכן.
דאָס פּרעזענטירן דעם ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן בײַ דער װענעציער ביענאַלײ איז גאָר אַ כּדאַייִקע אונטערנעמונג, װאָס ציט דעם אױפֿמערק אױף ייִדיש און ייִדישער קולטור בעת זײער אַ װיכטיקער אינטערנאַציאָנאַלער אױסשטעלונג. דער ייִדישלאַנד פּאַװיליאָן איז אָבער אױך טײַער. אַלע צושטײַערס זענען קריטיש, סײַ הײַיאָר סײַ פֿאַר דער צוקונפֿט. אױב איר קענט העלפֿן מיט אַ צושטײַער קענט איר קװעטשן דאָ.
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Mamdani Nakba Day video prompts pushback from Jewish leaders amid rising tensions
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani once again angered many Jewish New Yorkers, already uneasy about his criticism of Israel, after posting a video on Friday made by his City Hall team marking Nakba Day, which remembers the displacement of thousands of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948. “Nakba” means “catastrophe” in Arabic.
Mamdani, who rose to power aligned with pro-Palestinian activism, has been unapologetic about his anti-Zionist views and signaled they would shape his tenure. The Jewish community overwhelmingly did not support his election. Mamdani has supported efforts to divest from Israel Bonds and has refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state — all this reversing years of steadfast support of Israel by mayors of New York City, which has about 1 million Jewish residents. While people who identify as Palestinians number just a few thousand in official records, about 150,000 New Yorkers told the last Census that they hailed from the Mideast, excluding Israel.
The post drew fierce backlash from Jewish leaders, who accused Mamdani of promoting a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while ignoring Israel’s history and alienating the many New Yorkers who have connections to Israel.
The four-minute video featured New Yorker Inea Bushnaq, who recounted her experience as her family fled their home in East Jerusalem because “the Zionists were coming into Jerusalem,” and moved to Nablus. It had 10 million views on the social media platform X by Sunday evening, one of multiple platforms where it was posted on the official NYC Mayor’s Office accounts.
Today marks Nakba Day, an annual day of remembrance to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed.
Inea is a New Yorker and a Nakba survivor. She shared her story with us… pic.twitter.com/z2PBOaJq5Z
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) May 15, 2026
Olivia Becker, Mamdani’s video director, who filmed the interview, reposted supportive messages on X from allies of the mayor, highlighting the significance of his becoming the first New York City mayor to publicly commemorate Nakba Day.
Many Israelis argue that the displacement of Palestinians occurred in the context of the war launched by neighboring Arab states and Palestinian groups against the newly declared State of Israel, while some progressive Jewish groups and pro-Palestinian advocates say the Palestinian experience and the continued statelessness of millions of Palestinians should also be publicly acknowledged. Jewish leaders also noted that Mamdani’s video ignored the massacre of Jews pre-state and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Middle Eastern countries. Many New Yorkers and Israelis are themselves descendants of Jews who were expelled or forced to flee Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria and Yemen.
Yaacov Behrman, a Chabad-Lubavitch activist in Brooklyn — who has appeared with Mamdani and attended a roundtable discussion with Orthodox leaders at City Hall — harshly criticized the mayor for platforming a “dishonest characterization” of history. “The tweet’s one sided narrative deepens division instead of advancing peace, coexistence, and understanding, and it should never have been posted by the mayor of New York City,” Behrman said.
Tony Award-winning actor Ari’el Stachel, whose father immigrated to Israel from Yemen, mocked Mamdani’s muddled response to rising antisemitism in an Instagram satire in which he struggles to say “I am outraged by antisemitism” — but eagerly looks forward to releasing the Nakba Day video.
A City Hall spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry asking what civic purpose was served by using city resources and the mayor’s official account to post the video.
The video prompted the latest clash between Mamdani and major Jewish and Zionist organizations over Israel-related issues. Last month, Mamdani vetoed a City Council bill requiring safety plans for protests near schools, while allowing a separate measure protecting houses of worship to become law without his signature. In January, Jewish leaders criticized his delayed response to a protest in which demonstrators chanted pro-Hamas slogans. Mamdani also faced backlash from Zionist Jewish organizations on his first day in office after revoking executive orders tied to antisemitism and campus protests.
Mamdani came under fire during the mayoral race last year for defending the slogan “globalize the intifada,” used by some at the pro-Palestinian protests and perceived by many as a call for violence against Jews.
Mamdani’s Jewish Heritage reception
Mamdani is set to host Jewish leaders and activists at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, on Monday to mark Jewish American Heritage Month. The annual event has been programmed by Mamdani’s team as a celebration in honor of the Shavuot holiday, with a dairy menu.
Former Assemblyman Dov Hikind had urged Jewish leaders to boycott the event before Friday’s video was released. “You don’t have to go for cheese blintzes to Gracie Mansion,” Hikind said in an interview Sunday, arguing that attendance would legitimize Mamdani’s anti-Zionist posture. “I have no doubt that Mamdani is laughing all the way to the bank,” said Hikind, who now runs Americans Against Antisemitism. “I can tell these Jews that he would have greater respect for you if you started to believe in something.”
Hikind said he had been told that photographers from the New York Post planned to stage outside the mayoral residence on the East River to photograph attendees entering the event and that activists intend to circulate the images on social media to publicly shame participants.
For observers, the repeated episodes underscore the widening divide between a mayor who sees outspoken advocacy for Palestinians as part of his political identity and the largest Jewish community outside Israel, which increasingly views his approach to Israel and antisemitism as dismissive of its concerns despite his repeated promises to protect and engage with Jewish New Yorkers.
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