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Defining Antisemitism Down: American Jews Are Tolerating the Intolerable
FILE PHOTO: A man, with an Israeli flag with a cross in the center, looks on next to police officers working at the site where, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Shortly before the recent terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester, England, writer Ashley Rindsberg, attending services at another British synagogue, was told by a friend, “I reckon Jews have about 10 years left in this country.”
When news of the Manchester attack arrived, Rindsberg’s friend said simply, “You see what I mean. Ten years.”
British Jews, in other words, feel they are now facing the choice between “the suitcase or the coffin” and, naturally, must choose the suitcase.
This would be par for the course in Jewish history, sadly. There is not a country to which the Jews have wandered — including medieval England — from which they have not, at some point, been expelled.
American Jews, however, have always seen themselves as exceptions to this history. They believe that such an expulsion, whether by official or unofficial coercion, “can’t happen here.”
America, they believed and mostly still believe, is different.
Some 20 years ago, I might have agreed with them. I no longer do. I now believe that, if things do not change, and change soon, American Jews might have 25 years left in the United States. If they’re lucky, they may have 50. Either way, the American Jewish story, like so many others, will have an unhappy ending.
Many would consider this hysterical scaremongering, and perhaps understandably so. But I fear it is not.
For example, I have spoken with at least one young American Jew who, having suffered egregious antisemitism on campus, has decided to make Aliyah. Yes, this is only one example, and whether they will make Aliyah in the end is uncertain. But I do know that for a young American Jew even to consider the option would have been, two years ago, unthinkable.
In other words, it is already happening here.
“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” George Orwell once wrote. American Jews need only see what is under their noses to know that it is happening here.
They can see it in the extraordinary extent to which they have already defined antisemitism down. Put simply, much like those young Jews who are now determined to flee, what was deemed unthinkable two years ago has already been normalized.
We need only look at what American Jews have already submitted to, largely without complaint:
They have been betrayed by personal friends and political “allies” at precisely the moment they most needed non-Jewish support.
They have been ostracized from social and professional spaces that once welcomed them.
They have been betrayed by the Democratic Party, their longtime political home, which has all but completely submitted to a takeover by its antisemitic wing.
They have been forced to avoid certain streets and neighborhoods for fear of their safety.
They have watched hate rallies and mobs pollute their cities, vandalize their property, attack their brethren, and generally conduct themselves like Cossacks while suffering few consequences for their crimes.
They have seen their children viciously abused in schools and universities.
They have suffered targeted harassment, intimidation, assault, and outright terrorism.
They have witnessed indifference to or outright collaboration in these crimes by the very non-Jewish authorities Jews once trusted to honor and secure their civil rights as American citizens.
None of this is unprecedented. It has already happened in France, Britain, and numerous other Western European countries in which Jewish life has now become essentially unlivable. There is no reason to think that, if it continues, the same will not happen in the United States.
It is true that there may be a temporary lull with the apparent end of the Israel-Hamas war, but Israel will fight another war. Even if, by some miracle, it doesn’t, the antisemites who emerged from their hiding places on October 8, 2023, will not disappear. Their genocidal ambitions are not confined to a specific conflict or war. They will continue their malevolent efforts by, as their favorite slogan says, “any means necessary.”
Sadly, because they have continuously defined antisemitism down, American Jews have already begun to accept all this as normal. They are adapting to what cannot be adapted to and tolerating what cannot be tolerated. They hope that lawsuits and onerous security measures at their institutions will succeed in stemming the tide.
But sadly, these are stopgap measures. The truth is that if American Jews persist in adapting and tolerating, then sooner or later, they will face the suitcase or the coffin.
In my new book Self Defense: A Jewish Manifesto, I argue that there can be only one answer to this: American Jews must rise in their own defense. Antisemites will always be there, but if Jews can set the price of antisemitism higher than that of leaving the Jews alone, all but a truly deranged few will back down.
This can only be accomplished, however, if the Jews learn to defend themselves by themselves, including through the legal and moral use of force. Accordingly, they must form a nationwide organization that can train them in things like self-defense techniques, weapons handling, tactical knowledge, and intelligence gathering, and then deploy them accordingly.
If American Jews find the will to do this, they may yet secure their future as Jews and Americans. If they do not, then I fear they will soon be saying, like their British brethren, “I reckon Jews have about 10 years left in this country.”
It will have happened here.
Benjamin Kerstein is an Israeli-American writer who is currently a fellow at the Z3 Institute. His book Self Defense: A Jewish Manifesto is available at Amazon via Wicked Son Books and the Z3 Project.
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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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