Daily News – Opinion – by Rabbi Marc Schneier
Zohran Mamdani believes that most of the backlash to his candidacy is “Islamophobic.” It is not.
I scrolled down my X timeline after last Wednesday’s debate, seeing dozens of people saying that anyone who is critical of Mamdani’s stance on Israel is “Islamophobic.”
Throughout my more than two decades of building bridges between Jews and Muslims across the Arab and Muslim world, I can tell you that Mamdani’s views on Israel are not only out of touch with Judaism, but they are out of step with the broader Islamic leadership.
Let’s set the record straight. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is the spiritual center of the Muslim world, continues to hold serious discussions about normalizing relations with Israel.
“I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure stability for everyone and to have normal relations,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation with more than 225 million Muslims, has spoken clearly about Israel’s right to exist.
“We must have an independent Palestine, but we must also, we must also recognize, we must also respect, and we must also guarantee the safety and security of Israel. Only then can we have real peace, real peace and no longer hate and no longer suspicion,” President Prabowo Subianto said during this year’s United Nations General Assembly.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also supported a two-state solution that ensures dignity and security for both peoples.
These leaders want a Palestinian state, and rightfully so. But they do not say they want a Palestinian state at the expense of the Jewish one. They want one side-by-side with the world’s only Jewish country. This is the moral and political balance at the heart of responsible Muslim leadership across the world.
Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks outside the Islamic Cultural Center of the Bronx, in New York City on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News)
Earlier this year, I was the first New York rabbi to point out Mamdani’s antisemitic statement in which he equated “intifada” with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In response to my condemnation and others, he quipped, “it pains me to be called an antisemite.”
At that time, I said he must immediately apologize to New York City’s Jewish community for his offensive statement. But that apology never came. Mamdani has never once apologized for these insensitive remarks, or any other sentiment that has deeply offended our community. His continued demonization of Israel has led to physical attacks on Jews across New York City.
His refusal to acknowledge Israel’s existence as a democratic Jewish state places him further to the left than almost every major Muslim country’s leadership. Make no mistake, the anti-Mamdani reaction on the part of the New York Jewish community is not an interreligious conflict. It is a political and ideological one.
Over the years, I have worked with leaders from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Jordan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates to build interfaith trust. We worked together to discuss a path forward to make peace with Israel. Soon, we began to see peace reverberate throughout the region, with the creation of the Abraham Accords.
Now, it is even possible that the spiritual center of Islam, Saudi Arabia, will normalize relations with the spiritual center of Judaism, Israel, a peace that would reverberate throughout the entire Muslim world.
Whenever I travel to Riyadh, Doha, Manama, Baku, or Ankara, I am very clear that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. Israel is not a 77-year-old political aspiration, rather, it is at the very core of Judaism for thousands of years.
In my travels across the Muslim world, I have been strengthened while hearing from many of these distinguished leaders. These are leaders who recognize Israel has restored the honor and dignity of the Jewish people, and it has been a key ally in bringing strength and security to the entire region.
There are no two faith communities that are so closely aligned in their beliefs. Judaism and Islam — the children of Abraham — celebrate our common faith and fate.
On the journey of peace and reconciliation between Israel, its Arab neighbors and Muslim counterparts, the train is leaving the station. It is time for Zohran Mamdani to get on board before it is too late.
Schneier is a prominent New York rabbi, serving the New York City and Hamptons communities for more than 40 years.
Copyright © 2025 Foundation For Ethnic Understanding. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy