A Call to Action and the Conflation of Israel with Judaism
In the days leading up to the New York City mayoral election, a group of rabbis issued ‘A Call to Action’, which criticized public figures such as Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani. They accused him of refusing to condemn violent slogans, denying Israel’s legitimacy, and accusing the Jewish state of genocide. The rabbis’ letter then makes an unfounded conclusion that Mamdani’s support for Palestinian human rights and his critique of Israeli behavior serve to “delegitimize the Jewish community and encourage and exacerbate hostility towards Judaism and Jews.”
This argument is not only logically flawed but also dangerous. It conflates Israel with the religion of Judaism and, by extension, equates criticism of Israel or political Zionism with antisemitism. This conflation has been promoted since the 1970s by leaders of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that had long been at the forefront of defending Jews against bigotry.
The Rise of Legislation Equating Criticism with Antisemitism
It took decades for this dangerous conflation to gain traction. Efforts by the powerful pro-Israel lobby to pass legislation in Congress that equated criticism of Israel with antisemitism were repeatedly blocked by both Republicans and Democrats. However, when the focus shifted to the states, the pro-Israel forces found more success. To date, more than three dozen states have passed controversial bills that threaten protected speech.
Following the public outrage after Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, the ADL and its allies in government and media saw an opportunity to push harder on the argument that student protests against Israel’s war on Gaza were a threat to the identity of Jewish Americans. Despite the fact that these protests were against Israeli actions, not Jews, and that many protest leaders were Jewish, the narrative was pushed forward.
The Impact on Students and Faculty
Pro-Israel groups supported Republican efforts to ban the protests and urged universities to punish students who criticized Israel. Thousands of students were arrested; many were suspended from their universities and had their degrees withheld. Faculty who supported the students were silenced or dismissed, and some foreign students were held for deportation because they had been critical of Israel.
Despite the increase in attacks against both Arab American and Jewish American students during this period, the ADL and Republicans in Congress deployed a weaponized definition of antisemitism that ignored Arab concerns or labeled them as extremist and criminal, while prioritizing Jewish concerns as legitimate and deserving of full-throated support and action.
Zohran Mamdani: A Candidate for Change
Enter Zohran Mamdani, an elected member of the New York State legislature whose entry into the mayoral contest has electrified voters. His charisma and agenda to make New York more affordable have won support from young voters, the city’s working class, recent immigrants, and liberals. After decisively winning the Democratic primary, New York’s financial elites and political establishment mobilized to defeat Mamdani in the general election.
While polls still show him holding a substantial lead over his main opponent, billionaire donors have poured tens of millions into advertisements that ironically employ anti-Muslim tropes to defame and smear the candidate and his community.
The Media Narrative and Polls
While many issues are at play in this contest, the dominant media narrative has been that Mamdani’s criticism of Israel is making the city unsafe for Jews. This claim is easily disproven by the most recent poll of Jewish voters showing Mamdani tied with his nearest competitor and leading two to one among Jews aged between 18 and 45.
Mamdani’s support for Palestinians, or his agreement with almost all US and international human rights groups (including Israeli organizations) that Israel is committing genocide, is not antisemitic. This should not threaten Jews. In fact, the threat to Jews comes from those, like the ADL, who falsely equate all Jews with Israel’s deplorable actions—or from the rabbis who use false charges to incite against a candidate whose only “crime” has been to tell the truth.