Prominent New York Rabbi: Mamdani understood the Jewish community’s divisions better than we do

NEW YORK – Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, a prominent U.S. Jewish leader in New York City, said Monday that Jewish support for New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is not surprising, while calling for a broader view of Zionism in the Jewish community.

Cosgrove, the rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue, is a leading voice in the U.S. conservative community and a vocal supporter of Israel.

Cosgrove, speaking at the American Zionist Movement’s biennial national convention in Manhattan, said Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, the Israeli government’s rightward shift and the American Jewish community’s intolerance of differing political views have contributed to discontent among liberal Jews.

“I may not be constitutionally able to leave Israel, but others have done so and will continue to do so, before October 7 and even more so since then. There is a limit to the self-flagellation of supporting a state that neither recognizes you nor represents your values,” Cosgrove said.

For Jews growing up after the Holocaust, Israel’s claim to the land in the interest of survival was obvious, and Arab attacks on Israel ignored concerns about the rights of Palestinians, Cosgrove said, adding that this had changed because of settlement expansion and military rule in the West Bank, sometimes coupled with ignorance about the history of the conflict.

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He added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the only prime minister many American Jews know because of his long tenure, is “committed to extremist parties” whose policies run counter to the values ​​of liberal U.S. Jews.

“In the eyes of American Jews, the West Bank settlements and the illiberal policies they espouse represent a threat to Israel’s founding promise of democracy,” he said. “If Israel’s project for a progressive American Jew is to provide home and security for a historically vulnerable Jewish minority, how can the state fail to respond to the needs of the vulnerable minority in its midst?”

“You may not like the fact that 30 percent of New York Jews voted for Mamdani, but you shouldn’t be surprised. For a liberal Zionist disillusioned with the Israeli government, Mamdani’s anti-Zionism is a difference of degree, not a kind. He understood the fissures of our community better than we do,” said Cosgrove, who is a strong critic of Mamdani.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on November 21, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Cosgrove called on the American Jewish community to engage in “Heshbon Nefesh,” or spiritual examination of conscience.

“The argument that it is somehow treasonous to criticize this or that Israeli policy simply does not hold water as long as that criticism comes from a place of love, loyalty and investment in the well-being of the State of Israel,” he said.

Cosgrove called for “a new chapter of American Zionism, imbued with a sense of our inner pluralism, avoiding the reductive and destructive tactic of labeling people with whom we disagree as either self-hating Jews or colonialist oppressors.”

He urged humility among American Jews removed from the realities of the Middle East battlefield and pleaded both for maintaining Israel’s security and for feeling compassion for the suffering of Palestinians.

“Against those who stand outside our tent, we must hold our ground. For those who want to dwell in our tent, we must expand it. We must do both,” he said, calling for “an American Zionism large enough to represent multiple views simultaneously.”

Mamdani is a far-left anti-Israel activist who identifies as an anti-Zionist.

In Mamdani’s latest Israel-related controversy, following a vitriolic protest at a synagogue last month, Mamdani condemned both the protesters and the synagogue for hosting an event to provide information to Jews seeking to emigrate to Israel.

Mamdani appeared to claim that the Park East synagogue was violating international law by facilitating immigration into settlements. The group running the event, Nefesh B’nefesh, does not direct Jews to the settlements but does provide some information to those who request it.

Also at the American Zionist Movement gathering, President Isaac Herzog warned against Mamdani, saying his statement about Park East Synagogue was “totally unconstitutional because there is a right to practice one’s religion.”

Anti-Zionist protesters outside a synagogue in New York City, November 19, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Mamdani’s comment “causes me great concern. It shouldn’t have been in America,” Herzog said.

“I know America and we knew that anti-Semitism existed in various places, but never before had it been so obvious in public discourse,” he said.

Herzog also called for building bridges within the Jewish community and between Israel and the American Jewish community.

“We have the most fantastic stories from Jews all over the world and there is a real lack of understanding of each other’s stories among the two largest Jewish communities in the world,” he said. “Listen to the other colors in the rainbow. Understand that they are an integral part of the nation.”

In the final weeks of the New York mayoral campaign, Cosgrove addressed politicians with a warning about Mamdani, saying in a Shabbat sermon that the candidate posed “a threat to the safety of the New York Jewish community.”

Cosgrove pointed to Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the “Globalization of the Intifada” slogan, his refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, his promises to arrest Netanyahu and his repeated accusations of genocide against Israel. Mamdani initially welcomed the Intifada slogan and later said he would discourage its use.

While polls released immediately after the race showed that about a third of Jews voted for Mamdani, a poll of “affiliated” American Jews released last week found that a majority believe Mamdani will harm the safety of Jews in the city and that they think Mamdani is anti-Semitic.

Mamdani has left-wing Jewish allies who vouch for him, and he has repeatedly promised to protect Jewish communities and denounced anti-Semitism.

Mamdani is scheduled to take office in January 2026 in the city, which has over a million Jewish residents, the largest Jewish community in the Diaspora and the largest Jewish population of any city in the world.

His stunning political rise and electoral victory marked a sea change for New York City’s Jews, who for the first time are confronted with an anti-Zionist mayor whom many see as a threat.