Mamdani and AOC are the Democrats of the future

Jonathan S. Tobin

Zohran Mamdani speaks during his first major mayoral campaign rally at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 2 2025. Photo by Madison Swart/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images.

It was no small irony that I learned the news that Zohran Mamdani would be the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City and the odds-on favorite to win the general election while I was in Medora, N.D., some 1,755 miles from the city of my birth.

I was born in Manhattan, grew up in the New York City area, went to college at Columbia University, and spent much of my early life in and around the city. Though it’s been many years since I resided there, I have always thought of myself as a New Yorker, regularly attending cultural events in the city and rooting for its sports teams. Rural, oil-drilling, country-music-loving North Dakota is about as far from New York in terms of culture and politics as you can get while remaining in the continental United States.

But as many American Jews were panicking about the victory of Mamdani, a far-left Socialist who sides with those who seek Israel’s destruction, being in North Dakota on a trip with members of the Council for a Secure America to learn more about the intersection of interests between supporters of Israel and those who work in the domestic energy industry turned out to be a piece of unexpected good timing. I found myself surrounded by non-Jews who are ardent supporters of the Jewish state and simply appalled by the surge in antisemitism in this country, of which events in New York City are just the latest evidence.

Tempering despair

That was both a comfort on a day when a lot of New York Jews are talking about leaving a Big Apple, as well as a reminder that the current despair about the future of American Jewry should be tempered by remembering some basic truths about the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens who do not practice the same faith.

North Dakota is among the least ethnically diverse and one of the whitest states in the union (82.9%), as well as the reddest. President Donald Trump won the state with 67% of its votes, with only West Virginia and Wyoming giving him more support. As such, it is no more representative of the United States as a whole than deep-blue, ethnically and racially diverse New York City, where those who call themselves white make up only 31% of the population.

The truth to keep in mind this week as the country reels from the news that someone like Mamdani may well be the chief executive of its largest and most Jewish city is that North Dakotans are far closer to the national norm in terms of their attitudes toward Israel and antisemitism than the 43.5% of New Yorkers who voted for him.

Polls have shown that the vast majority of Americans have continued to oppose the hatred of Jews and attacks on them, even after the surge was set off by the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab terror attacks on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023. And though the tsunami of anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda about the war on Hamas and its Iranian sponsors has resulted in a decline in support for Israel, a strong plurality of Americans still back the small, beleaguered nation.

The real divide is along party lines, with Republicans—and to a lesser extent, independents—backing Israel by huge majorities. Among Democrats, support for Israel has become a minority opinion.

And that is why it is important to understand the Mamdani win as revealing more about the future of the Democratic Party, both in terms of its attitudes toward Jews and Israel, as well as a sharp turn to the left on other issues than it does about America as a whole.

As I wrote in April, in the aftermath of their 2024 defeat at the hands of Trump and the GOP, all of the enthusiasm and energy among Democrats has increasingly shifted to the hard-left intersectional wing of the party. There are still many moderate Democrats who are heavily represented among its officeholders. Among them are those like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (who is Jewish), who credibly aspires to the 2028 presidential nomination. And it has a few stalwart and vocal supporters of Israel, such as Sen. John Fetterman, also in Pennsylvania, and Rep. Ritchie Torres in New York.

A left-wing Democratic base

But the party’s base belongs to the hard left, especially among the younger generation of voters and politicians. It is to people like Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the leader of the progressive “Squad” in the U.S House of Representatives, who many Democrats are now looking for leadership. The faction of the party that was led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was bested by the party’s establishment in 2016 and 2020 when it nominated Hillary Clinton and former President Joe Biden. And it never had a chance in 2024 when the fix was in for the visibly declining incumbent, who was replaced in an undemocratic coup by Vice President Kamala Harris of California.

Mamdani’s win in New York is another sign that the party’s base belongs to those who are deeply influenced by toxic left-wing ideologies like critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism, all of which falsely label Jews and Israel as “white” oppressors. Mamdani, a Muslim who is, like AOC, a Democratic Socialist, is a former college chapter president of the anti-Israel, antisemitic Students for Justice in Palestine; a supporter of the antisemitic BDS movement; opposes the existence of Israel as a Jewish state; wants to “free Palestine” from the Jews; and won’t even admit that the phrase “globalize the intifada” is, like the ubiquitous chants of “from the river to the sea,” a call for terrorism and genocide of the Jews. Like AOC, he also subscribes to a catalog of far-left ideas about the economy and environmentalism that seek to destroy the canon of Western civilization, which would also ruin the country.

There are specific circumstances that enabled his win. The demography of New York City has shifted in the time since a Republican like Rudy Giuliani or even a moderate liberal like Michael Bloomberg won the mayoralty. A critical mass of white ethnic or working-class moderate voters has left the city and gone elsewhere for better opportunities, lower taxes, and less congestion and crime.

Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams left the Democratic Party to run as an independent after the Trump administration ended his prosecution on federal corruption charges. The fact that his most credible moderate primary opponent—former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was compromised by multiple incidents involving sexual harassment and calamitous decisions that led to the deaths of thousands during the COVID pandemic—came into the race with so much baggage may have made his victory in a multi-candidate race inevitable.

If Mamdani is to be defeated in November, Adams, Cuomo (who can run on an independent line) and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa will have to unite, with two of them withdrawing in favor of a single candidate. Since that is highly unlikely, New York is likely to find itself governed by someone who is not merely a hard left radical, but a supporter of antisemitic and anti-Israel causes.

Redefining Jew-hatred

This will also give a boost to those on the left, including New York Times columnists Peter Beinart and M. Gessen, who seek to redefine the term “antisemitism” to allow open Jew-haters to claim that they are innocent of the charge. That this kind of gaslighting is regularly platformed in the Times—the publication that is the flagship of American liberalism as well as the most influential newspaper in New York—remains deeply concerning.

While no one thinks an election in New York City is a bellwether for American politics generally, it will put more wind in the sails of Sanders, AOC and others on the hard left who appear to be the future of the Democratic Party. Democrats seem to be prioritizing their obsessive hatred of Trump over a willingness to consider policies and candidates that might win back the sensible middle of American politics, in addition to working-class voters who have abandoned them and think of the president as their champion.

Party leaders fail

Democratic Party leaders like Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who pretends to be the shomer or “guardian” of Israel and the Jews but is more worried about running afoul of the radical left, have made it clear that they are not going to stand up against AOC and Mamdani. Though they don’t share their beliefs, officeholders in both major parties always follow the lead of the base.

That is a shocking and disappointing development for an American Jewish community that is already reeling from an enormous increase in antisemitism that has gone mainstream in legacy media, academia, the arts and popular culture. Some younger Jews, indoctrinated by the radical left throughout their years in school, have embraced people like Mamdani and tend to rationalize his anti-Zionistic and antisemitic rhetoric. That leaves most liberal Jews, who still make up a large majority of the community, without a political home.

This means the battle against antisemitism is now largely being waged by the political right and, in particular, by Trump, who is pro-Israel and waging a much-needed war on academic institutions that have normalized antisemitism and the war on the West.

Jews are not alone

That’s a difficult truth for liberal Jews who hate the president. But it is a reminder that most Americans, whether politically moderate or residents of deep red states like North Dakota, observe the mainstreaming of antisemitism in New York with horror, and oppose people like Mamdani and other radical Democrats. And the more that the Democratic base swings to the left, the more likely it is that their party is going to continue losing national elections.

The shift among Democrats is good news for the GOP but bad news for the Jewish community. It’s also bad for the country as a whole to have one of its two major parties fall into the hands of radicals. And it represents a sea change for Jews in New York, who are now realizing that they may be better off moving to a red state like Florida. As worrisome as this is, it is also a moment for Jews to realize that they are not alone. Hard as it may be to accept that they are now under siege in institutions and cities where they once felt most at home, most Americans outside the nation’s metropolis stand by them.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

US Justice Department Warns of Threats to Jewish Targets as Concern Mounts Over Iranian Sleeper Cells

Ailin Vilches Arguello

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei listens to the national anthem as Air Force officers salute during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 7, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

The US Department of Justice is closely tracking potential threats to the Jewish community nationwide amid growing concerns over Iranian sleeper cells launching attacks and fallout from recent American and Israeli military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

On Wednesday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi reiterated the Trump administration’s recent warnings about potential Iran-linked sleeper cells and domestic radicalization, following escalating tensions in the Middle East during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

During her testimony on Capitol Hill, Bondi reassured lawmakers that all federal agencies are working around the clock to keep Americans safe and are closely monitoring any potential national security threats.

Sleeper cells are covert operatives or terrorists embedded in rival countries who remain dormant until they receive orders to act and carry out attacks.

“Iran, of course, is a threat. They have been a threat, and they always will be a threat to our country,” Bondi said in her testimony. “And we are working hand in hand with all of our agencies to protect Americans and to keep us safe.”

Tehran’s ability to coordinate or inspire attacks on American soil has long been a concern for US law enforcement and intelligence officials — a fear that only deepened after US President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

According to Janatan Sayeh, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based think tank, the threat from sleeper cells remains credible due to the Iranian regime’s ongoing desire to avenge Soleimani’s death.

“Tehran takes its reputation seriously and holds long-standing grudges,” Sayeh told The Algemeiner. “Its defeat in the recent 12-Day War, when top generals, nuclear scientists, and major nuclear infrastructure were lost, will likely deepen its motivation to retaliate, including the possibility of action on US soil.”

Last weekend, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a former member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with suspected Hezbollah ties, a former Iranian army sniper, and a terror watchlist suspect during a sweep targeting illegal Iranian migrants across the country. Both the IRGC and Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy based in Lebanon, are US-designated terrorist organizations.

When entering the US, Iranian migrants are flagged as “special interest aliens” and undergo heightened federal screening for possible terrorism ties, given Washington’s designation of Tehran as a state sponsor of terrorism.

In last weekend’s ICE operation, five of the 11 Iranians arrested had prior criminal convictions, including grand larceny as well as drug and firearm possession.

Bondi noted that the administration had arrested 1,500 undocumented Iranian immigrants in the US, saying she would discuss the issue further in a classified setting.

“Have they invaded our country? Absolutely,” Bondi said.

For decades, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have established a strong foothold in the Western Hemisphere, leveraging alliances with governments such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua to expand their influence and support terrorist operations and illicit activities.

Backed by Tehran with an estimated $700 million in annual funding, Hezbollah is regarded by experts as the world’s most technically sophisticated terrorist organization, although the group suffered severe losses during its war with Israel last year. Active in at least 15 US cities, the Islamist movement was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist group prior to 9/11.

“While the [Iranian] regime often tries to obscure its role to deflect responsibility, that effort doesn’t always succeed, especially given how deeply Israel has penetrated its intelligence apparatus,” Sayeh told The Algemeiner.

“To hedge against these vulnerabilities, Tehran has strengthened ties with Western criminal networks. This allows the regime to distance itself from the assassination and terror plots it orchestrates,” he continued.

Following the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, law enforcement agencies across the country have ramped up surveillance of Iran-backed operatives amid growing fears of retaliation.

Beyond facilitating illicit financing, these operatives act as sleeper agents, poised to carry out terrorist attacks on US soil on behalf of Iran if given such an order.

According to NBC News, Iranian officials warned Trump during last week’s G7 summit that they would deploy “sleeper cells” to carry out attacks on American soil if Washington decided to strike.

Although no specific or credible threats have yet emerged, US Customs and Border Protection says the threat of sleeper cells has “never been higher.”

But this is far from a recent development. It’s an ongoing pattern, with Iranian and Hezbollah agents repeatedly documented over the past two decades surveilling and collecting intelligence on multiple targets throughout the US.

“Tehran has a record of using Iranian nationals to carry out assassination plots and attacks inside the United States,” Sayeh told The Algemeiner. “These operations are typically run by either the Ministry of Intelligence or the IRGC, often through coordination between specialized departments.”

One notable case is the foiled 2011 plot in which US authorities uncovered an Iranian plan to assassinate the then-Saudi ambassador to the US by bombing Café Milano, a Washington, DC, restaurant frequented by American officials.

In May 2023, the Justice Department announced that Alexei Saab, 46, was sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for receiving military-type training from Hezbollah, marriage fraud, and making false statements.

In 2000, Saab entered the United States, where he lived while remaining a Hezbollah operative who “continued to receive military training in Lebanon and conducted numerous operations.” According to law enforcement and Saab’s own admission, he surveilled various “soft targets” in the US for potential future attacks.

One Hezbollah operative told the FBI during interviews in 2016 and 2017 that if the US and Iran went to war “the US sleeper cell would expect to be called upon to act.” That operative, Ali Mohamed Kourani, and another Hezbollah member were carrying out preoperational surveillance for potential Hezbollah attacks in the US and Panama, according to federal prosecutors.

Wyobraź sobie, że Hitler pozostał nietknięty

Joshua Hoffman
Tłumaczenie:  ChatGPT and Andrzej KOraszewski

Joshua Hoffman, przedsiębiorca, autor książki “Journeys of the Jewish Spirit”.

Dlaczego lewica jest najbardziej antyizraelska? Z wielkiego rozczarowania

Waldemar Kumór

1947, orka w kibucu Urim (Fot. KLUGER ZOLTAN / Israel Government Press Office)

To był mały, dzielny postępowy kraj, który walczy z ohydnymi reakcyjnymi arabskimi dyktatorami. Co się stało z soft power Izraela.

New York City Jews Sound Alarm After Anti-Israel Socialist Zohran Mamdani Wins Democratic Mayoral Primary

Corey Walker

Candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Democratic New York City mayoral primary debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, US. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/Pool via REUTERS

Following Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, local Jewish leaders are expressing deep apprehension about their future status in a city facing the prospect of being led by a man who has been accused of antisemitism and made anti-Israel activism a cornerstone of his political career.

Mamdani, the 33‑year‑old state assemblymember and proud democratic socialist, defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other candidates in a lopsided first‑round win in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor, notching approximately 43.5 percent of first‑choice votes compared to Cuomo’s 36.4 percent.

Voters in New York City rank their choices in order of their preference. While Mamdani declared victory and Cuomo conceded defeat, the race’s ultimate outcome will technically be decided when every vote is tallied, taking into account the ranked choice count. Mamdani’s victory is all but assured.

Some observers have speculated that Mamdani’s win over an older, high-profile Democrat signifies growing frustration with the party’s status quo and represents a generational change.

The election results have also alarmed members of the local Jewish community, who expressed deep concern over his past criticism of Israel and defense of antisemitic rhetoric.

“Mamdani’s election is the greatest existential threat to a metropolitan Jewish population since the election of the notorious antisemite Karl Lueger in Vienna,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in New York City, said in a statement. “Jewish leaders must come together as a united force to prevent a mass Jewish Exodus from New York City.”

Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, who along with her husband Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt co-founded the Altneu, an Orthodox synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, suggested that Mamdani’s political ascendance indicates that antisemitism might actually be a political “asset” these days. 

“Perhaps soft antisemitism is not a liability for a NYC politician. It’s an asset,” Chizhik-Goldschmidt wrote. “Perhaps New York City is not the city we thought it was.”

Former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who later founded the organization Americans Against Antisemitism, similarly repudiated Mamdani and encouraged New Yorkers to consolidate behind a single candidate to oppose the presumptive Democratic nominee in the general election in November.

“Mamdani has won the Democratic primary,” he said in a video posted to social media. “It is pathetic, it is sick, it is painful for people who care about the future of New York and in particular the Jewish community.”

Hikind added in a written post accompanying the video: “NYC must unite to defeat the dangerous antisemite Mamdani.”

A little-known politician before this year’s primary campaign, Mamdani is an outspoken supporter of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward its eventual elimination.

Mamdani has also repeatedly refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, falsely suggesting the country does not offer “equal rights” for all its citizens, and promised to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York.

Most recently, Mamdani defended the phrase “globalize the intifada”— which references previous periods of sustained Palestinian terrorism against Jews and Israels and has been widely interpreted as a call to expand political violence — by invoking the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II. In response, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum repudiated the mayoral candidate, calling his comments “outrageous and especially offensive to [Holocaust] survivors.”

The same week, an old X/Twitter post from 2015 by Mamdani resurfaced online showing him appearing to threaten that a “third intifada” was coming.

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, warned that Mamdani’s victory represents a well-known pattern that starts with hatred of Israel and ends with violence targeting Jews.

“Zohran Mamdani’s win in #NYC feels deeply familiar to #Europe’s #Jewish community. We’ve seen where radical politics — especially cloaked in ‘justice’ rhetoric — can lead. It starts with slogans. It ends with violence,” Goldschmidt, the former chief rabbi of Moscow, posted on social media.

“In Europe, we’ve learned the hard way: when far-left ideologues and radical Islamists turn Israel into a symbol of absolute evil, it quickly becomes a weapon — not against a state, but against Jews. ‘Anti-Zionism’ becomes the mask. Exclusion and incitement follow,” the rabbi continued. “This isn’t about legitimate critique of Israeli policy. It’s about obsession. Israel becomes a dog whistle — a coded target on synagogues, schools, and Jews in public life.”

Europe, like New York, has experienced a surge in antisemitism since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, with antisemitic incidents often liked to animus against Israel.

“The safety of all New Yorkers — including Jewish New Yorkers — is the single greatest responsibility of the mayor of New York,” said Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union.

“That safety has been deeply impacted by the rhetoric and actions of those whose opposition to Zionism has driven them to work to instill fear and intimidation in Jews who support Israel,” he added.

Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), called for Jews in New York to immigrate to Israel.

“As an American Jew and as a human, I am truly frightened that an antisemitic communist, Mamdani, has actually promoted murdering Jews by supporting and legitimizing the antisemitic rally cry ‘globalize the intifada,’ refuses to accept the Jewish state of Israel as a Jewish state, states he will arrest PM Netanyahu if he comes to NYC, and is friendly with Israel bashing Jew-haters – and yet has been mainstreamed in the most important Jewish city in America,” he said. “It is time to make aliyah to Israel.”