New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric regarding Israel has “contributed to incitement to violence” towards Jews, a prominent community leader in the US has claimed.
Eric Fingerhut, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, accused Mamdani and other anti-Israel politicians of “exploiting” issues of antisemitism and Zionism “in political campaigns”.
In an interview with Israeli outlet Ynet, Fingerhut said of the mayor: “There is no question that his statements and behavior contribute to the increase in violence.
"His statements and actions have incited and contributed to incitement to violence.”
In particular, he took issue with Mamdani’s comments regarding the Jewish State, including his labelling of Prime Minister Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and the “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people”.
“His descriptions of Israel, the prime minister of Israel and Zionism hurt the Jewish community, which is Zionist,” said Fingerhut.
“Ninety per cent of American Jews are Zionists and support Israel, and he attacks it and incites people when he accuses Israel of responsibility for terrible things.
“It incites people and causes them to attack Jews in response. And that is what is happening in New York. People are walking down the street and being attacked. He is responsible for that through his incitement…People feel they are being attacked by Mamdani.
“It is also fuelled by domestic politics in America. There is no question about that. And when you have statements like this from mainstream leaders, it incites people who have a tendency toward violence to act violently.”
He also suggested that the Jewish community is feeling a significant threat from international bad actors, specifically Iran, adding that this has contributed to a “very tense security environment”.
And he called for more action from lawmakers to protect the community, saying: “We will do what we need to do to protect the communities through fundraising, decision-making and implementation.
“But ultimately it is the government’s duty to protect its citizens at places of worship and at community gatherings.
“There are many examples of President Trump’s support for the Jewish community. We are very grateful for that. But there is more that needs to be done.
“We need their support for legislation protecting Jews. We need to increase grants to police forces so they can allocate personnel to protect Jews.”
City Hall did not respond to the JC’s request for comment but, addressing similar allegations last month that he had fuelled antisemitism, Mamdani said: “I would say first and foremost there's no tolerance for antisemitism in this city.
“We have to root out antisemitism from across the five boroughs and that's because the city is one that has no room for hate or bigotry of any kind, and when we make criticisms of a nation state or policies, we have to remember those are criticisms of exactly that – never of a people, never of a faith.”
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