New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani responded angrily to Jewish community leaders who, in the wake of an antisemitic stabbing attack on the Upper West Side, called on him to restrain his rhetoric attacking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to accounts from multiple city officials and political insiders, Mamdani made personal calls to city council members criticizing the leaders for linking his "war criminal" comments about Netanyahu to a climate encouraging antisemitism in the city.
The incident came after a 50-year-old Jewish man was stabbed on July 30 near West 86th Street and Central Park West, shortly after another victim, a 57-year-old Asian man, was attacked two blocks away. Suspect Raul Morales, 51, was charged with hate crimes in connection with the attack on the Jewish victim. The stabbings occurred on Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting and mourning in the Jewish calendar.
According to a statement from the UJA-Federation of New York, the attack came "soon after Mayor Mamdani once again used his official platform to viciously attack Israel." The statement noted that Jewish New Yorkers feel connected to Israel and expressed concern about "the dangerous climate created when elected leaders relentlessly portray Israel — and, by extension, the many Jewish New Yorkers who feel a deep connection to it — as uniquely evil and illegitimate."
Mamdani had released a video days before the stabbing in which he called Netanyahu a "war criminal" and declared that the Israeli prime minister would not be welcome in New York City. In the statement, Mamdani said he believed NYC should honor an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Netanyahu. According to reporting from Israeli officials, Mamdani had campaigned on the promise that he would personally order police to arrest Netanyahu if he visited the city for the UN General Assembly.
In response to the criticism, multiple senior political figures and staffers told The New York Post that Mamdani displayed what they characterized as excessive sensitivity to public criticism. According to accounts from more than a dozen city officials who requested anonymity to avoid conflict with the mayor's office, Mamdani made personal calls to council members who participated in press conferences addressing the stabbing and the rhetoric surrounding it.
"He can't handle criticism, especially from people he thinks he can push around," according to one senior political advisor quoted by the outlet. "When elected officials speak out publicly, he takes it personally. He calls them directly because he doesn't want negative coverage."
The sensitivity to criticism extends beyond Israel-related matters. According to the sources, Mamdani recently called the president of the Queens Community Board to ask that he not receive an honorary degree at a graduation ceremony, fearing the honor would be portrayed negatively in the media.
Mamdani has maintained an unusually large communications operation since taking office in January. According to his administration, he established an "Office of Mass Engagement" with a budget of $53 million — an expansion of his existing social media and messaging team. Critics have described the office as a propaganda arm of City Hall, noting Mamdani's prolific social media output promoting socialist-democratic policy priorities including wealth taxation and tenant protections.
In his response to the community leaders, Mamdani said his criticisms were directed at Netanyahu personally and not at Israel or Jewish New Yorkers. "I want to make very clear that my criticisms of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are of specifically Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," he said in a statement. "Any criticisms of any foreign state should never be confused for criticisms of a people or of a faith."
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon responded to Mamdani's rhetoric by telling the mayor to focus on his job serving New Yorkers. "You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas' propaganda," Danon said in a statement on social media.
According to reporting from The New York Times, several figures within Mamdani's own Democratic Party, including former Clinton advisor Mark Penn and former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, have criticized his policy positions. Penn challenged Mamdani's proposed tax on luxury apartment owners, calling the $5 million threshold "fabricated." Emanuel reportedly told Mamdani in a private meeting, "I know where the line is. You don't" --- a characterization Mamdani's spokeswoman, Anna Bahar, denied on social media.
