Patinkin, who has shamelessly equated Israel's defensive actions in Gaza to the Holocaust, a vile distortion that spits on the memory of six million murdered Jews, didn't just endorse Mamdani during the 2025 campaign; he actively lent his fading star power to prop up this democratic socialist radical.
Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of NYC, has built his career on spewing hatred toward Israel, branding it an "apartheid state" and championing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a thinly veiled campaign to economically strangle the Jewish homeland. And Patinkin? He gleefully performed at the event, warbling about rainbows while Mamdani plots to unleash chaos on New York's 1.3 million Jews by scrapping protections against antisemitic protests and ditching the IHRA definition that calls out anti-Zionism for the Jew-baiting it often is.Patinkin's betrayal runs deep.
Social media erupted in outrage, with users rightly branding Patinkin a "kapo" a reference to Jewish collaborators in Nazi camps, for his fawning support of Mamdani's hate-fueled agenda. Even as the crowd applauded, Jewish advocacy groups like the ADL and StopAntisemitism decried the spectacle, warning that Patinkin's actions normalize the vilification of Israel and embolden actual threats against Jews.
The inauguration's other performers, from Lucy Dacus to Babbulicious, pale in comparison to Patinkin's hypocritical spotlight-grab, officiated by Bernie Sanders amid invocations that sidelined Jewish voices.
As Mamdani's term unfolds with promises of divestment from Israel and unchecked anti-Zionist fervor, Patinkin's rainbow serenade will be remembered not as hope, but as a cowardly endorsement of hatred. Shame on him, a once-great talent now reduced to a useful idiot for the enemies of the Jewish state.
