New York Sen. Chuck Schumer has spent years calling himself “the shomer of Yisrael”—the “guardian of Israel.” It’s a title he’s repeated often, especially when he wanted to reassure Jewish voters and pro-Israel supporters that he stood firmly with the Jewish state.
But when it comes to Zohran Mamdani—New York’s radical state assemblyman who parrots Hamas talking points and demonizes Israel at every turn, and stands a good chance of being elected the next mayor of New York City—Schumer has gone silent. And silence, in moments like this, is not neutrality. It’s cowardice.
Mamdani has referred to Israel’s war of survival—“Swords of Iron”—as a “war of occupation.” He refuses to call Hamas what it is: a terrorist organization that massacred, raped, kidnapped and burned civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.
When pressed on his views, Mamdani doesn’t answer the question. He pivots. He blames Israel. He frames terror as “resistance.” He wraps Hamas’s barbarity in the language of human rights.
He’s not just another loudmouth on X. He’s an elected official in Schumer’s own state, representing a growing faction of the Democratic Party that openly sides with Israel’s enemies. And while Mamdani spews poison and rallies activists, Schumer is nowhere to be found. No statement. No pushback. Not even a polite rebuke.
That’s not guardianship. That’s political calculation, plain and simple, and Schumer is an expert at it.
Schumer knows that Mamdani represents the progressive activist base that Democrats are afraid of crossing. He also knows that standing up to them takes courage. And that’s exactly what he’s avoiding. But leadership isn’t about convenience. It’s about standing up when it matters most.
This isn’t just about Mamdani. It’s about the normalization of anti-Israel rhetoric inside the Democratic Party, including in the state of New York, the geographical area with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. When the party’s most powerful Jewish elected official refuses to confront it, the message to the haters is clear: You have nothing to fear.
It’s also a message to the Jewish community: Don’t count on Schumer when things get uncomfortable.
Schumer cannot claim the mantle of shomer while pretending that Mamdani doesn’t exist. Guardians don’t hide when enemies approach the gate to destroy you. They stand up, speak out and lead.
Right now, Chuck Schumer is failing that test. The question is whether he will find his voice or continue to prove that his self-appointed title was always just a slogan.
