Mayor Zohran Mamdani acknowledged that the slate of candidates he supported, who campaigned against Israel and in support of the Palestinian cause, helped drive Tuesday’s election sweep — while again stating his opposition to Israel operating as a Jewish-led state.
Mamdani, 34, described the results as a pivotal moment for the Democratic Party, saying grassroots Democrats are increasingly challenging, rather than backing, Israel’s role in Middle East conflicts.
“We’ve seen on Tuesday evening, we saw Democrats turn out in districts across the city to make clear that they were tired of tens of billions of dollars being spent in our taxpayer dollars to violate international law, to kill thousands of civilians,” the mayor said Sunday during an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week.”
He argued that while a “ceasefire” is supposed to be in place in Gaza, “more than a thousand Palestinians have been killed in that ceasefire.”
“And what New Yorkers want to see is a politics of conscience, a politics of clarity, a politics of conviction. And to follow international law, to believe in the humanity of all people, it shouldn’t be a journey too far. And I think that our party needs to hear what Democrats are telling them,” Mamdani told host Jonathan Karl.
His comments align with remarks from New York State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, who told The Post on Sunday that anti-Israel sentiment contributed to the defeat of more pro-Israel establishment incumbents.
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Candidates backed by Mamdani — among them outspoken Israel critic Darializa Avila Chevalier and former city Comptroller Brad Lander — defeated incumbent Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman, respectively. Both incumbents are supporters of the Jewish state.
Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, a Democratic Socialists of America member who also had Mamdani’s backing, won an open seat against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez in Brooklyn-Queens District 7.
“Yes, I do think the Israel-Palestinian issue had an impact in the election,” said Jacobs, a pro-Israel moderate. “It hurt establishment Democrats.”
“There are people who may have voted against Espaillat and Goldman because of it,” he added. “It was important to the activists who came out and voted.”
Meanwhile, Mamdani repeated that he opposes Israel being run as an official Jewish state.
“The way I see it is, equal rights for all people. And I think that’s the truth for Israel,” Mamdani said Sunday.
Pressed if he supported Israel as a Jewish state, Mamdani said, “I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else. And a lot of that comes back to a fundamental belief that we should all be considered equal, no matter what our faith is.”
