Amid rising antisemitism in New York City and concerns over the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor, Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, issued an extraordinary and direct call for Jews to consider leaving the United States and making their home in Israel. For many Israelis, the election of Mamdani was not a symbolic political shift but a clear signal of danger for the Jewish community in America’s largest Jewish city. A viral meme circulating on Israeli social media captured the mood: Mamdani as “Employee of the Month” for Nefesh B’Nefesh, the agency that helps Jews make aliyah (immigration to Israel).
Mamdani’s record is well documented. He has supported BDS, defended the call to “globalize the intifada”—a phrase widely understood as a call to expand violent attacks on Israeli civilians—and has refused to condemn Hamas. On October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped 250, and carried out mass rape and mutilations, Mamdani released his first public statement. He condemned Israel, calling for ending the “occupation” and “dismantling apartheid,” while offering not a single word of criticism for Hamas. His statement read: “The path toward a just and lasting peace can only begin by ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.” Jewish leaders across the political spectrum in New York have described this as an apparent moral abdication.
During his campaign, Mamdani insisted on describing Israel’s defensive war in Gaza as “genocide,” even as Jewish organizations across the city objected. The Anti-Defamation League stated that such language “is not only inaccurate and misleading, but it unfairly serves to demonize the State of Israel and to diminish recognized acts of genocide.” Leaders from the American Jewish Committee, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, and the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance united publicly against Mamdani, warning that his rhetoric encourages antisemitic hostility and could change the character of Jewish life in New York. Queens Assemblyman Sam Berger wrote: “When someone spends years relentlessly targeting the world’s only Jewish state through legislation, boycotts and protests — while remaining silent on the abuses of regimes like Iran, China or Russia — it’s not principled criticism, it’s antisemitism, plain and simple.”
The sense of security American Jews long associated with New York has shifted. A poll of 501 Israelis released Thursday found that nearly half said they would now avoid traveling to New York while Mamdani is mayor. The Jerusalem Post devoted its front page to an image of the Statue of Liberty crumbling under the headline: “Jews at risk in New York City.” The concern is not hypothetical. Since October 7, pro-Hamas demonstrations escalated at CUNY, NYU, and especially Columbia University, which has become a hub of openly pro-Hamas activism spilling into Manhattan streets.
Against this backdrop, Chikli issued a public appeal. He wrote on social media in Hebrew:
“The city that was once a symbol of global freedom has handed its keys to a Hamas supporter, someone whose positions are not far from the jihadist fanatics who murdered three thousand of its citizens 25 years ago. This is a critical turning point for New York. The city’s choice shakes the foundations of the place that gave freedom and opportunity to masses of Jewish refugees from the end of the 19th century. This place became the stronghold of the largest Jewish community outside Israel. All of this ended this morning. This did not happen in one day. It began with the anti-Zionist atmosphere on campuses funded by Qatari money, continued with violent pro-Hamas demonstrations at CUNY, NYU, and especially at Columbia University, which became a Hamas stronghold in the United States, and reached its peak this morning when the last of the bullies who praise the rapists and murderers of Hamas was elected mayor. New York will no longer be what it was, especially not for its Jewish community. I invite the Jews of New York to seriously consider establishing their new home in the Land of Israel. Netzach Yisrael lo yeshaker [The Eternity of Israel will not fail].”
Chikli expanded on this in an editorial in Fox News last Wednesday:
“By doing so, the city that once stood as the world’s beacon of liberty has handed the keys of power to a Hamas sympathizer. This marks a critical turning point for the city of New York — home to the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel. It is almost unthinkable that New York — the proud and historic center of Jewish life — could become the American city where Jews no longer feel at home or safe. But with the election of Mamdani as mayor, that unthinkable scenario is now a reality. New York will never be the same — particularly for its Jewish community.”
Chikli described Mamdani as part of what he called the “Red-Green Alliance,” the partnership between radical Islamism and hard-left progressive movements, united in ideological hostility to the Jewish state. “This is, without a doubt, the biggest Muslim Brotherhood victory in the United States — and possibly the entire Western world,” he wrote. “From the capital of the West to electing a mayor who embraces the genocidal call to ‘globalize the Intifada.’”
Chikli also warned of antisemitism in the conservative movement.
“Yet at the same time, a toxic strain of antisemitism is rising rapidly from within the political right. Influencers, media personalities, think tanks, student organizations and even elected officials are giving platforms and legitimacy to neo-Nazi rhetoric, Holocaust deniers, and the most absurd conspiracy theories — all under the deceptive banner of “free speech.” The same foreign powers that drove the pro-Hamas demonstrations throughout America just last year are very likely driving this divide within the political right today.”
This antisemitism, Mamdani warned, is focused on dividing Israel from its loyal evangelical supporters.
“Conservatism is incompatible with fanaticism and racism. It is rooted in truth, faith, and human freedom. You cannot call yourself a conservative while admiring Hitler, Stalin, or the theocratic dictator who rules Iran. You cannot call yourself a conservative while admiring Hitler, Stalin or the theocratic dictator who rules Iran.”
“The foundations of the American –Jewish and Judeo – Christian alliance remain strong, built upon a principle expressed by the Founders themselves: “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” Benjamin Franklin’s proposed motto for the Great Seal of the United States in 1776, later adopted by Thomas Jefferson for his personal seal.”
“This is the cornerstone of the Judeo – Christian tradition and of the American–Israeli partnership. And in the end — truth prevails.”
As Chikli ended his Hebrew tweet, “Netzach Yisrael lo yeshaker.”
The eternity of Israel does not fail — but the safety of exile always eventually does.
