The endorsement by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a Socialist Democrat, in the city’s mayoral race is not a small error in politics. It is a collapse of principle.
At the very moment Jewish New Yorkers are facing open intimidation in classrooms, subways and streets, Hochul has thrown her weight behind a man whose record is steeped in contempt for Israel and tolerance of rhetoric that Jews know all too well are threats to their survival.
Mamdani’s positions are not hidden. He has refused to repudiate the chant “Globalize the intifada.” He insists it is a political expression, brushing off what it truly is: a genocidal slogan born of uprisings aimed at killing civilians.
He embraces the BDS movement, a campaign designed to economically strangle Israel and stigmatize anyone who deals with it. He has pledged to overturn New York City’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, the most widely accepted safeguard against efforts to disguise old hatred in the language of politics.
These are not stray remarks. They are his platform. They place him squarely with those who demonize Zionism, excuse Hamas and portray the Jewish state as a global outlaw. A man who advances such ideas has no business seeking the mayoralty of New York, the city with the largest Jewish community outside Israel.
Hochul knows all this, which makes her decision not just naive but unconscionable. Only days after the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel, Hochul flew to Israel. She prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. She walked through Kfar Aza, where Hamas slaughtered families in their homes and declared that she would live the rest of her life “seared with the knowledge of what happened in this place.” She sat with hostage families, including New Yorkers whose sons were dragged into Gaza. She saw the blood and heard the stories. She looked survivors in the eye.
How does someone who stood in those rooms—still heavy with the stench of death—return home and endorse a candidate who excuses genocidal chants, cheers on boycotts and seeks to dilute the very definition of antisemitism? That is not a misjudgment. That is a willful act of betrayal.
Hochul claims that she and Mamdani can disagree on Israel while agreeing on affordability and safety for New Yorkers. That is a dodge. Some disagreements can be managed. However, the legitimacy of the Jewish state, and the protection of citizens and visitors to the five boroughs, are not bargaining chips. By pretending they are, she has revealed that politics outweighs morality in her calculus.
She points to Mamdani’s outreach to Jewish leaders as evidence of good faith. But Jews do not need photo opportunities. They do not need a man who “listens” while he normalizes genocidal slogans and pushes economic warfare against Israel. They need leaders who draw lines, defend those lines, and make it clear that the targeting of the Jewish state is inseparable from the targeting of the Jewish people.
New York is home to more Jews than any city in the world outside of Tel Aviv. Its governor should understand what that means. Yet Hochul has told them that their safety, their dignity and the Jewish state’s legitimacy are negotiable.
Mamdani has shown us who he is. The scandal is Hochul. She went to Israel, proclaimed that she would never forget and came back willing to elevate a man who stands shoulder to shoulder with Israel’s enemies.
In doing so, she has not only failed as a governor. She has betrayed the Jewish people.
Originally published at the Mael Review.
