Private Meeting With Rabbis Puts Mamdani on Notice Over Israel Rhetoric

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani heard a largely unified message from 10 rabbis Monday: His repeated criticism of Israel is hurting Jewish New Yorkers and making it harder to work with his administration on shared concerns.

The hourlong, closed-door meeting at City Hall included rabbis from Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Modern Orthodox congregations and was organized by the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism.

According to Jacob Kornbluh of the Forward, participants urged Mamdani to change the tone and frequency of his statements about Israel and to focus more on issues where City Hall and Jewish leaders can cooperate.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said there was a broad consensus in the room that Mamdani’s current approach was causing harm. Rabbi Rachel Timoner of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn said even rabbis who are highly critical of Israel expressed concern about the mayor’s rhetoric.

Rabbi Jon Leener of Prospect Heights Shul, a Modern Orthodox congregation, told Mamdani that some of his comments about Israel have contributed to heightened anxiety among Jewish New Yorkers.

But two major rabbinic organizations said they were not involved in organizing the meeting and were not invited.

The New York Board of Rabbis, which represents more than 750 rabbis from different denominations in the New York area, told JNS that Mamdani’s office did not contact the organization about the roundtable.

“I don’t know who he went through,” a representative of the board told JNS. “He didn’t go through us.”

Rabbi Etan Tokayer, president of the Rabbinic Council of America, also said he was not invited.

Tokayer said he had previously written to Mamdani’s Jewish liaison regarding reported past antisemitic comments attributed to Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji. He said the letter was strongly worded but balanced and that he never received a response.

The absence of the two organizations adds another dimension to Mamdani’s effort to engage New York’s Jewish community, particularly Orthodox and traditional Jewish leaders who have been among his strongest critics.

The meeting comes as Mamdani faces continued scrutiny over his positions on Israel, his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his response to antisemitism in New York.

Participants said Mamdani listened carefully and indicated he would consider their concerns. City Hall described the discussion as “open, positive and constructive.”

The mayor has also pursued relationships with other Jewish constituencies, including leaders of the Hasidic Satmar community and progressive Jewish organizations.

The contrasting outreach reflects the difficult political landscape surrounding Mamdani and the city’s Jewish community, with some rabbis seeking engagement with the mayor while others remain deeply critical of his views on Israel.

According to NYPD data cited by the Forward, anti-Jewish hate crimes increased 8.5% during Mamdani’s first seven months in office and accounted for 57% of reported hate crimes citywide during that period.

The meeting was part of the mayor’s broader effort to develop a strategy for combating antisemitism and maintaining relationships with Jewish communities across New York.