How the Communist Party Created Jewish Anti-Zionism

On January 1, Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City, the home of the world’s largest Jewish population outside of Israel. Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), is a vocal critic of Israel and a longtime supporter of the BDS movement, as well as the founder of his college chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). His Democratic primary upset and subsequent mayoral victory has left much of New York’s Jewish population reeling.

Mamdani’s election comes after two years of rising anti-Semitism following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza. Even if Mamdani himself is not anti-Semitic, he has been a vocal supporter of an anti-Israel movement that, more often than not, has crossed into anti-Semitism and, while saying he would not personally use slogans like “globalize the intifada,” he would not condemn those who use it. The conclusion for many was inescapable: Mamdani is bad for the Jews.

And yet, not all Jews seem to think so. According to exit polling, roughly one-third of New York’s Jewish voters supported Mamdani, a proportion that almost certainly rises dramatically among younger Jews. If these voters were not all anti-Zionists themselves, Mamdani’s professed anti-Zionism clearly did not trouble them. There was enough Jewish support for the Mamdani campaign to circulate materials featuring a group of pro-Mamdani rabbis, highlighting a self-described movement of “New York Jews for Zohran,” complete with bright blue and orange T-shirts. These supporters may not represent a majority of New York’s Jews, but they are hardly a fringe population.