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‘We are not alright’: How Oct. 7 defined Eric Adams’ Jewish legacy
As New York City Mayor Eric Adams was welcomed to deliver remarks at his final Hanukkah reception — just a day after the horrific terror attack in Bondi Beach — he made a characteristically unscripted entrance, walking in from the side of the room holding a wireless microphone instead of stepping onto the stage in the center. Adams told the audience on Monday night that he did not want to be separated from them by ropes or barriers. “I just really wanted to remind all of you that I am on your level,” he said. “I want you to know that your pain, I feel your pain.”
That moment, signaling that he understood not just the community’s fear after the attack, but its need for visible solidarity, was the kind of instinctive gesture that, aides and allies say, has defined his relationship with Jewish New Yorkers during a tumultuous single term as mayor.
As he prepares to leave City Hall on Dec. 31, having failed to overcome his unpopularity citywide and win reelection, Adams remains personally popular among much of the Jewish community, which continues to grapple with uncertainty about his successor, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, whose stance on Israel has been divisive.
Throughout his tenure, Adams cultivated a reputation for speaking the Jewish community’s language, understanding their concerns and being willing to step up in moments of crisis. Senior aides say he rarely reads prepared remarks, even when speeches are written for him, particularly at Jewish events.
This spontaneity was most evident in a four-minute speech he delivered at a rally on Oct. 10, 2023, days after the Hamas attack on Israel. The moment raised his profile in Israel, when he declared, “We are not alright.”
“The fact that everybody in the Jewish world has seen that speech, such a short clip, speaks to the impact on Jews around the world,” said Fabian Levy, the deputy mayor for communications, who is Jewish. He recounted the behind-the-scenes moments leading up to the speech in a recent interview, growing emotional at times and struggling to speak. Before Adams took the stage, he met with the parents of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra.
Levy, 41, is considered one of Adams’ closest aides, frequently at the mayor’s side. He was first appointed as press secretary in 2021, and elevated to his current role in August 2023, becoming the first-ever deputy mayor of Persian or Iraqi descent. Levy said that some of his relatives in Israel, who knew he worked in government but did not realize he worked for Adams, had posted that Oct. 10 speech to a family WhatsApp group and suggested he “work for this guy.”
When I asked about his popularity in Israel in a recent interview, Adams said, “My clarity of message, I believe it resonated with people who have been there for others, yet did not see their allies stand up and fight with them. The friendship we have with Israel and our Jewish community is not one that ends during the time of conflict, but one that withstands difficult challenges.”
In Monday night’s farewell address to the community, following a final official trip to Israel, Adams cast himself as a modern-day Maccabee.
Eric Adams’ relationship with Jews
Adams, 65, has had a longstanding relationship with the Jewish community dating back to his time as a police officer in the 1980s, a connection that continued through his four terms in the state legislature and two terms as Brooklyn Borough President.
He aggressively courted Orthodox voting blocs, critical to electing him, in the 2021 crowded Democratic primary for mayor. “I don’t need a GPS to find Borough Park,” Adams said in a campaign stop in Borough Park a day before the primary. “I was there for this community for over 30 years, and I am going to be there as the mayor. I’m not a new friend. I’m an old friend.”
Adams initially moved his Jan. 1, 2022 inauguration — traditionally held at noon in the plaza outside City Hall in downtown Manhattan and drawing thousands of spectators — to the evening out of respect for Shabbat observers, since it fell on a Saturday. The ceremony was later postponed and scaled back altogether as the Omicron COVID-19 surge swept through the city at the time.
A large number of American Jews served in senior roles at City Hall and throughout Adams’ administration. That includes Jessica Tisch, who became police commissioner in 2024; Robert Tucker, commissioner of the fire department; Fred Kreizman, commissioner for community affairs; Zach Iscol, the emergency management commissioner; and Ed Mermelstein, commissioner for international affairs until July.
In the mayor’s office, Levy served alongside Menashe Shapiro, deputy chief of staff; Moshe Davis, Adams’ Jewish liaison and later also director of the newly-created mayor’s office to combat antisemitism; and Lisa Zornberg, his chief counsel, who inspired the mayor’s widely cited Oct. 10 line and resigned last year amid the federal investigations that rocked the Adams administration.
Joel Eisdorfer, a member of the Satmar Hasidic community in Borough Park, was senior adviser until he stepped down in 2024, citing family reasons, and was a close political ally who helped mobilize Jewish support during Adams’ campaigns. Adams’ personal photographer, Benny Polatseck, who is also Hasidic, documented many of his appearances at Jewish and other official events.
“You see yourself in my administration, in a very significant place,” Adams told Jewish reporters in 2024.
In speeches to Jewish audiences, Adams described New York City as the “Tel Aviv of America.”
But Adams faced criticism from parts of the broader Jewish community after launching a Jewish Advisory Council that met regularly to discuss Jewish-related issues. Some liberal groups argued the council was not representative of the city’s full Jewish diversity, noting that at least 23 of its 37 members were Orthodox Jews and only nine were women. The progressive group New York Jewish Agenda later met with Adams after raising concerns that he was primarily hearing from Orthodox leaders and those with more conservative political views.
Last year, Adams announced the creation of a new office to combat antisemitism, which led to a bitter feud with the city comptroller, Brad Lander, who is Jewish and who was at the time a mayoral candidate. (Adams and Lander have long had a strained relationship, sparring over policy and oversight.)
Adams also signed an executive order adopting the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which labels most forms of anti-Zionism as antisemitic. Critics, including progressives and Jewish advocacy groups, warned it could chill free speech.
Some Jewish elected officials also criticized Adams for his crackdown on the pro-Palestinian protests across the city and on college campuses. He was unapologetic about his opposition to the call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Recently, Adams signed a measure barring city agencies from participating in Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions efforts, which would pre-empt any moves by city officials to divest from Israel Bonds and other Israeli investments. Adams maintained that it wasn’t an attempt to tie Mamdani’s hand but “to protect my legacy on the investment in Israel.”
During a roundtable with ethnic media outlets at City Hall on Monday, Adams didn’t elaborate when asked by the Forward how he would define his tenure in terms of curbing antisemitism and protecting Jewish New Yorkers. Antisemitism was up 18% in New York last year, with 68% of the 1,437 incidents occurring in New York City, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In the first quarter of 2025, NYPD data showed antisemitic acts made up 62% of all reported hate crimes citywide. Last month, anti-Jewish crimes were 37% of all reported hate incidents.
Adams said the numbers have been steadily dropping as a result of his moves to counter antisemitism, including his signature “Breaking Bread, Building Bonds” initiative, which encourages New Yorkers to host meals for 10 people from different racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds. “I think that the next administration must be extremely clear in their position around hate in general and antisemitism,” he said.
Levy said that Adams acted bravely in taking a firm stance on Israel, even when it carried political risk. “Some people are saying that it could have been the reason why he is no longer going to be mayor for another term,” Levy said. “He did it because it was the right thing to do.” Adams took a recent trip to Israel to bid farewell.
Shadowed by controversy
Despite his close and warm relationship with the Jewish community, Adams’ career has also been marked by recurring controversies. During the 1993 mayoral race, when he supported incumbent Mayor David Dinkins, Adams drew backlash after suggesting that then–state comptroller candidate Herman Badillo, who is Puerto Rican, would have shown greater concern for the Hispanic community had he not married a white Jewish woman. In the 1990s, Adams worked with the Nation of Islam as part of community crime patrol efforts and appeared publicly with its leader, Louis Farrakhan, who spewed antisemitism. He later came under fire for condemning former Rep. Major Owens during a 1994 congressional primary after Owens denounced Farrakhan.
As mayor, Adams faced renewed scrutiny in 2022 after defending his endorsement of a minister previously cited for antisemitic slurs in a race against a pro-BDS lawmaker. More recently, he faced criticism for invoking Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf while pushing back against allegations that he struck a quid pro quo with the Justice Department to end his federal corruption case, and for sitting for an interview at Gracie Mansion with Sneako, an influential antisemitic online streamer.
Adams made combating antisemitism central to his reelection effort. After withdrawing from the Democratic primary, facing a surging field of challengers, Adams sought to run on an independent line dubbed “End Antisemitism.” It came under legal challenge after creating another “Safe and Affordable” ballot. He ended his campaign in late September after failing to gain steam and in an attempt to clear the field for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to stop Mamdani.
He also got into a dispute between Williamsburg Hasidim over the bike lanes earlier this year.
What his aides and Jewish leaders are saying
Adams’ senior aides and Jewish leaders all pointed to Adams’ response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel as the high point of his tenure.
“His consistent support for the Jewish community after Oct. 7 was a model for what real leadership looks like,” said David Greenfield, a former member of the City Council who is now the chief executive of Met Council, the nation’s largest Jewish anti-poverty charity. “His remarks were, for many of us, the first time we felt genuinely seen and defended by leaders outside our community. At a moment of surging antisemitism, he didn’t hedge or look away.”
Sara Forman, executive director of the New York Solidarity Network, a pro-Israel political organization, said the expression of empathy he expressed toward the Jewish people by showing up “was very poignant and also a very significant legacy that Eric Adams is going to leave with all of us.”
In interviews, Adams’ Jewish staffers described a natural rapport with the community that often lessened the need for formal outreach or guidance on specific issues.
Shapiro, his deputy chief of staff, said that Adams’ unscripted nature underscored his familiarity and a genuine sense of belonging in the community. “He felt so comfortable in their presence, he knew exactly what he wanted to say,” Shapiro said.
“With Mayor Adams, you always felt like he practically went to yeshiva with you,” Davis, his liaison to the community, said. “He’s been in this so long and really knows what the community cares about.”
In his remarks at the Hanukkah event, Adams reassured the community that he will remain an ally after he leaves office. “I am going nowhere,” he said. Earlier in the day, Adams referred to what comes next as “God’s Plan A.” Adams is reportedly exploring a private-sector opportunity tied to an Israeli construction firm. “The end of the mayoralty means the beginning of what we are going to do together,” he said.
The post ‘We are not alright’: How Oct. 7 defined Eric Adams’ Jewish legacy appeared first on The Forward.
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With the last hostage released, is American Jewish unity over?
When the remains of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza returned to Israel this week, Scott Spindel, a lawyer in Encino, Calif., finally took off the thick steel dog tag he had put on after the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023.
His friend Lauren Krieger, an orthopedic surgeon, did the same. And he pulled down the last of the names of the hostages remaining in Gaza that his wife, Jenn Roth Krieger, had placed in the window of their Santa Monica home.
During the nearly 28 months that Israeli hostages remained in captivity in Gaza, Krieger, 61, and Spindel, 55, consistently argued over Israel’s war in the strip.
“Lauren would say that we probably were a little too extreme,” Spindel, whose daughter serves in the IDF, told me in a telephone interview. “I don’t think we blew up enough buildings.”
But those differences paled beside their mutual concern over the fate of the hostages.
“Unfortunately,” said Spindel, “it took tragedy to pull us together.”
So it was across the American Jewish landscape. Then, the body of Staff Sergeant Ran Gvili, the 24-year-old Israeli police officer killed on Oct. 7 and taken by Hamas terrorists back into the enclave, was returned to Israel — the last of the hostages to come home.
Jews from across the political spectrum unpinned yellow ribbon buttons from their lapels, removed the hostage posters from their synagogues, and folded up and put away the blue-and-white flags displayed as a symbol of the missing Israelis.
The marches and vigils American Jews held on behalf of the hostages — small but meaningful echoes of the mass rallies that roiled Israel — came to a quiet halt.
Jewish unity is forged in adversity. Without it, we are apt to find enemies among ourselves. And as painful as the hostage saga was, it unified an otherwise fractious American Jewish community in a time of crisis.
Without that common concern, are even deeper rifts our future?
“As committed and connected as we were,” said Spindel, “it doesn’t change the fact that we also were still divided about solutions.”
A family in distress
Across the United States, synagogues of all religious and political bents regularly joined in the same Acheinu prayer for the release and return of the hostages.
“Our family, the whole house of Israel, who are in distress,” the prayer begins — a wholly accurate summation of the totality of Jewish concern.
Surveys showed that the hostages unified American Jews even when Israel’s Gaza campaign divided them. An October 2025 Washington Post poll found that a plurality of American Jews disapproved of Israel’s military actions in Gaza — but a whopping 79% said they were “very concerned” about the hostages.
There have been other moments in recent Jewish history when calamity created unity. The 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, for instance, brought together the vast majority of American Jews in mourning, even those who opposed his policies.
And, of course the brutal Oct. 7 attack, which claimed almost 1,200 lives, created a near-universal sense of shock and sorrow.
But the hostage crisis may have had an even deeper emotional — and perhaps political — impact.
“Even for people who were not affiliated Jewishly, those hostages struck a deep, deep chord,” Krieger told me. “It felt personal. I don’t think we’ve had that level of collective trauma in our lifetimes in that same way.”
And a family divided
The hostage crisis bonded American Jews to one another, and to their Israeli counterparts, at a time when enormous political rifts were opening within their communities.
In the U.S., as in Israel, there were sharp disagreements over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war and whether he was even prioritizing the hostages’ safety.
And the encampments and protests against the war at college campuses — in which many Jewish students participated, and to which many others objected — created even deeper divisions over support for the Jewish state.
But if the hostage issue didn’t erase such differences, it muted them. Krieger and Spindel could frustrate each other in conversations about the conduct of the war, or American support for it. But in the end, they were both in that 79% that the Washington Post poll identified.
What will hold them — and the rest of us — together, now?
The hostage crisis provided something history unfortunately bestows upon Jews with regularity: an external enemy that transcended ideological differences. With it gone, American Jews return to what they’ve always been — a community bound by tradition, and riven by politics.
Krieger and Spindel have already resumed their arguments. But even though the dog tags are gone, they’re both still wearing Jewish stars on silver chains around their necks. When someone admires Krieger’s, he takes it off and gives it to them. He buys his metal stars in bulk on Amazon, and has given away dozens since Oct. 7.
“I want people to feel like I do,” he said, “like we’re a peoplehood worth cherishing.”
Worth cherishing — even though we can’t agree on much else.
The post With the last hostage released, is American Jewish unity over? appeared first on The Forward.
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Iran President Says Trump, Netanyahu, Europe Stirred Tensions in Protests
Amnesty International Greek activists and Iranians living in Athens hold candles and placards in front of the Greek Parliament to support the people of Iran, in Athens, Greece, January 30, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that US, Israeli and European leaders had exploited Iran’s economic problems, incited unrest and provided people with the means to “tear the nation apart” in recent protests.
The two-week long nationwide protests, which began in late December over an economic crisis marked by soaring inflation and rising living costs, have abated after a bloody crackdown by the clerical authorities that US-based rights group HRANA says has killed at least 6,563, including 6,170 protesters and 214 security forces.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told CNN Turk that 3,100, including 2,000 security forces, had been killed.
The US, Israeli and European leaders tried to “provoke, create division, and supplied resources, drawing some innocent people into this movement,” Pezeshkian said in a live state TV broadcast.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced support for the demonstrators, saying the US was prepared to take action if Iran continued to kill protesters. US officials said on Friday that Trump was reviewing his options but had not decided whether to strike Iran.
Israel’s Ynet news website said on Friday that a US Navy destroyer had docked at the Israeli port of Eilat.
Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Europeans “rode on our problems, provoked, and were seeking — and still seek — to fragment society,” said Pezeshkian.
“They brought them into the streets and wanted, as they said, to tear this country apart, to sow conflict and hatred among the people and create division,” Pezeshkian said.
“Everyone knows that the issue was not just a social protest,” he added.
Regional allies including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia have been engaging in diplomatic efforts to prevent a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
The US is demanding that Iran curb its missile program if the two nations are to instead resume talks, but Iran has rejected that demand.
Foreign Minister Araqchi said in Turkey on Tuesday that missiles would never be the subject of any negotiations.
In response to US threats of military action, Araqchi said Tehran was ready for either negotiations or warfare, and also ready to engage with regional countries to promote stability and peace.
“Regime change is a complete fantasy. Some have fallen for this illusion,” Araqchi told CNN Turk. “Our system is so deeply rooted and so firmly established that the comings and goings of individuals make no difference.”
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CBS News Chief Weiss Touts Commentator Push, Draws Mixed Reaction in Newsroom
FILE PHOTO: Bari Weiss speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
Three months into her tenure, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss presented a vision this week to revitalize the nearly century-old broadcaster, in part by applying the same formula that fueled the rise of The Free Press – recruiting commentators who offer observations about news, politics and culture.
From adding 19 new commentators, including some drawn from The Free Press ranks, to introducing new podcasts, newsletters and live events, employees were variously energized or skeptical of the ideas presented by CBS’ new boss. Weiss’ notions about how to thrive in a post-Walter Cronkite era struck some as in conflict with the stated mission of doing great journalism, according to seven current and former CBS News employees and industry insiders.
In her presentation, Weiss also envisioned a galaxy of cross-platform stars, like New York Times columnist and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin, whom she highlighted with a meme: “Sorkining.” The Dealbook founder is the author of several business books, executive producer of the Showtime series “Billions,” and maestro of the New York Times premiere live event, and a Davos fixture.
“It’s like saying ‘Hey, Hollywood. Why can’t you just be like Leonardo DiCaprio?’ If people knew how to bottle that magic and make someone a star, they would do it,” said a former CBS employee.
An industry veteran said the idea suggested a lack of appreciation for the power of television, which has been making stars for generations: among them “CBS Evening News” anchors Dan Rather, Connie Chung, Walter Cronkite and Katie Couric.
The 41-year-old Weiss, who has no broadcast experience and has been described as a distant leader by six current and former CBS News sources, now has to deliver on her promise of capturing new and younger viewers – including political independents who don’t see themselves reflected in mainstream media. It is a daunting undertaking that has hobbled executives across broadcast and cable, including former CNN chief Chris Licht, ousted in June 2023.
One supporter sees the charismatic Weiss as a modern-day Katharine Graham, the legendary publisher of the Washington Post, who was undermined by underlings when she took over in 1963. Graham transformed the paper and led it through its Watergate-era heyday, and generally left editorial decisions to Executive Editor Ben Bradlee.
A current staffer, speaking on background, said, “People are saying, ‘Let’s give her a chance’ … I want to see her succeed. If she succeeds, we all succeed.”
CBS News and Weiss did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
PRIORITIES FOR CBS NEWS
Weiss, a former opinion journalist and media entrepreneur, joined CBS after parent Paramount owner David Ellison bought her five-year-old media company, The Free Press, for $150 million in October.
Some see Weiss’ playbook of expanding CBS’s journalism ranks with commentators as conflicting with other initiatives including breaking news and landing deep investigative stories, according to three current and former CBS News staffers and an industry veteran.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” said the former employee. “But is that what a news division is or are they craving something completely different? That’s fine but don’t pretend it’s a news division.”
Another current CBS News staffer talked about past failures to capitalize on new ways of reaching the audience, such as leveraging the power of the Paramount+ streaming service to promote news shows, observing, “We have done a wretched job of being on the internet.”
Weiss is also attempting to change the news network’s political orientation, appealing to a wider cross-section of Americans, according to her remarks Tuesday. Weiss said she wants CBS News to reflect the friction animating the national conversation.
In broadening its perspective to include more diverse viewpoints, CBS News could ultimately lay claim to the uncharted ground for a center-right broadcaster, said Integrated Media Chief Executive Jonathan Miller, a veteran media executive who has held senior positions at News Corp and AOL.
“We need to commission and greenlight stories that will surprise and provoke – including inside our own newsroom,” Weiss said in her address to employees. “We also have to widen the aperture of the stories we tell.”
On that front, CBS has had mixed results so far. Earlier this month, “CBS Evening News” broadcast a widely panned segment featuring U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in various meme-like situations, saluting him as “the ultimate Florida man.”
EARLY SUCCESSES
It has also seen successes, including Lesley Stahl’s interview with Trump son-in-law and Middle East advisor Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, within a week of brokering a peace deal between Israel and Hamas, and Norah O’Donnell’s “60 Minutes” interview with Trump. Paramount paid Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over its editing of an interview with his White House rival, former Vice President Kamala Harris.
It landed journalistic scoops, including interviewing the man who charged one of two gunmen who attacked a Jewish community gathering in Sydney, and exclusive video of Alex Pretti, the man killed by Border Patrol in Minneapolis, reading a tribute to a veteran who died in 2024.
Weiss announced that the network would bring in contributors with expertise in politics, health, happiness, food and culture, whom she encouraged staffers to use on-air. The roster includes Free Press columnist Niall Ferguson of the conservative Hoover Institution, as well as Casey Lewis, a former Teen Vogue and MTV editor who writes about youth culture.
“It’s great to have younger people, a diverse demographic and diverse ideology represented,” said Kathy Kiely, the chair in Free-Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism. “Newsrooms can’t do a good job unless we have that diversity in our ranks. What worries me is the emphasis on opinion over primary-sourced, reported facts.”
Weiss emphasized making content available online before it airs on TV to reach more viewers. CBS has long been in third place behind rivals ABC and NBC and, like most mainstream media, is struggling with audience declines as consumers migrate to social platforms.
Pew Research estimates about one-third of all adults get at least some news from podcasts. CBS News does not appear among Spotify’s or Apple’s rankings of the top 50 news podcasts.
One former employee expects the digital-first goal to be complicated because CBS hasn’t devoted sufficient resources to helping correspondents or anchors curate their social media presence or re-edit television interviews for YouTube or streaming.
Weiss encouraged staffers to think of the news organization as the best-capitalized media startup in the world.
“We are in a position, with the support of all of the leadership of this company, to really make the change we need.”