NYC rabbi warns Zohran Mamdani ‘poses a danger’ to Jewish community’s safety

A New York City rabbi is doubling down on his warning that electing Democrat Zohran Mamdani as mayor could jeopardize the safety of the Jewish community.

“This is a moment where Jewish self-concern — safety — is on the docket,” Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue told “Fox & Friends First” on Wednesday.

“I would love nothing more than it not to be on the docket, that New Yorkers are just arguing over sanitation and police and taxation and the things that make our city great, but this is a moment that we need to speak up about Jewish self-concern.”

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Cosgrove warned his synagogue Saturday that Mamdani “poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community,” pointing to the Democratic socialist’s “refusal to condemn inciteful slogans like ‘globalize the Intifada’” and his “repeated accusation of [Israeli] genocide” as evidence.

After longstanding pressure, Mamdani said last month he would “discourage” use of the “globalize the intifada” phrase, which is commonly associated with violence against Israel.

Mamdani has a lengthy record of criticizing Israel, at one point insisting New York City should honor the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to visit the city.

However, he rejects claims he is antisemitic.

As Election Day closes in, Cosgrove says now is the time for outreach.

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“When I’m speaking to the Park Avenue Synagogue community, I’m preaching to the choir already,” he said. 

“But there are folks in the non-Jewish community, in the Jewish community who are ambivalent, who are undecided, and I think this is the moment in time that we all need to reach out to our networks of influence.” 

“Not everyone has a pulpit, but everyone has friends, colleagues, family members who we have to have those one-on-one conversations [with] and throw a flag on the field and say, ‘We can disagree on an issue here and there, but when it comes to the safety of the Jewish community, there is no gray area.'”

Mamdani’s campaign has noted his support from Jewish elected officials — including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander — in response to antisemitism concerns, according to POLITICO. 

His campaign also noted that leaders of the Orthodox Jewish community had sued his rival, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for pandemic policies that were allegedly “antisemitic” and pointed to Mamdani’s plan to help tackle antisemitism by “increasing funding to prevent hate crimes by 800%,” per the report.

If elected, Mamdani would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor.