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Cuomo reignites ‘globalize the intifada’ criticism of Mamdani ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary
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 29 days to the election.
Cuomo renews his approach
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Andrew Cuomo has renewed his reproach of Zohran Mamdani over the phrase “globalize the intifada” as New York City prepares for the Oct. 7 anniversary.
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Cuomo demanded yesterday that Mamdani condemn the pro-Palestinian protest slogan ahead of the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel. Mamdani declined to condemn the phrase during the primary, though he has since said he does not personally use the language and would “discourage” it because of the interpretation that it could incite violence against Jews.
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Cuomo also noted a protest scheduled for Oct. 7 by the pro-Palestinian group Behind Enemy Lines, which plans to rally and “Escalate for Gaza” around sites in New York City including Sen. Chuck Schumer’s house, Rep. Ritchie Torres’ office and the Anti-Defamation League.
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Cuomo did not suggest any formal link between the group and Mamdani. But he said his rival “continues to play word games instead of showing moral clarity” and called on him to “reject any movement that glorifies violence or targets Jewish people.”
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Mamdani hasn’t yet responded to Cuomo’s attack, but he continues to stand by his pro-Palestinian advocacy and harsh criticism of Israel. He shared a photo from his meeting with Palestinian New Yorkers in Astoria over the weekend.
Mamdani’s Jewish outreach
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Mamdani has met with Hasidic leaders in recent weeks, including two rabbis from Williamsburg’s ultra-Orthodox Satmar community, according to CNN.
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The frontrunner has ties to left-wing Jewish groups in the city, and he joined city comptroller Brad Lander and Rep. Jerry Nadler at progressive synagogues for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But he’s also hoping to convince less friendly Jewish audiences.
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He has a ways to go with many synagogues and mainstream Jewish organizations, as some have hosted him in private but declined to publicize their meetings.
- The meetings could have an impact behind winning support for Mamdani’s campaign. Jewish groups may want to start building relationships with the politician polls show is most likely to become the city’s next mayor.
Following the money
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Cuomo’s campaign raked in close to $1 million over recent weeks, including nearly $400,000 in the hours after Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race, according to his latest campaign filing.
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He’s still far behind Mamdani, who said he hit the city’s $8 million fundraising cap last month.
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Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa had his strongest fundraising stretch of the race, reporting more than $420,000 in the period of Aug. 19 to Sept. 29. A spokesperson for Sliwa said he hoped to reach $8 million by the end of October.
Winning without a majority?
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If the polls are right, Mamdani is set to win the race with about 45% of the vote. That would make him the first New York City mayor in recent history to be elected without majority support, according to Politico.
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Winning less than a majority could pose problems for him in City Hall, as the democratic socialist and Israel critic may lack a mandate to pull off his progressive vision against the opposition of the city’s financial powerbrokers and political moderates.
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Mamdani will face pressure from the Democratic Socialists of America if he is elected. A leader of the party’s New York City chapter said at an event last week, “Our endorsed candidates are expected to follow the will of the membership,” according to the New York Post.
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The post Cuomo reignites ‘globalize the intifada’ criticism of Mamdani ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.