New York City is, by any measure, the most Jewish city on earth outside of Israel. With more than a million Jewish residents, dozens of vibrant neighborhoods, synagogues, schools, and cultural institutions—it’s a city where the Jewish story isn’t just remembered, it’s lived.
And yet, somehow, this same city may soon be governed by a man who sees Israel not as a friend, but as an enemy to be punished.
His name is Zohran Mamdani, and his latest outburst should remove any remaining doubt about his hostility toward the Jewish people and America’s closest ally.
In a jaw-dropping declaration this week, Mamdani said that if elected mayor, he would order the NYPD to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the International Criminal Court’s warrant were to be upheld during Netanyahu’s visit to New York.
You read that right: the man running to be mayor of the world’s most Jewish city says he’d try to handcuff the leader of the world’s only Jewish nation.
And he’s serious.
When Fox News’s Martha MacCallum pressed him on his statement, pointing out that “the United States doesn’t even recognize the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani doubled down. He said he would “exhaust every legal option” to ensure the warrant was enforced—openly fantasizing about a diplomatic showdown where New York City police officers would be used to detain Israel’s elected leader.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just ignorant, it’s dangerous. It’s a declaration of moral hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people.
And it fits a long-running pattern.
Mamdani has made a career of pandering to the most radical anti-Israel elements of American politics. As a college student, he helped found a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine—the same group that has excused terror attacks and promoted the BDS movement (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) aimed at isolating Israel economically and diplomatically.
In his public life, he’s defended that movement repeatedly, calling it a “legitimate expression of dissent.” When asked whether Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, he dodged—refusing to give a straight answer. And when asked about the slogan “globalize the intifada”—a phrase that glorifies violent uprisings and the murder of Israeli civilians—Mamdani refused to condemn it outright. He said he personally “wouldn’t use it,” but wouldn’t criticize those who do.
That’s not leadership. That’s moral cowardice.
New Yorkers have every reason to be alarmed.
In a city where Jewish day schools have to hire armed guards, where synagogues have been defaced, and where antisemitic assaults have spiked to record highs, the last thing New York needs is a mayor who flirts with anti-Israel extremism and refuses to stand firmly against antisemitism in all its forms.
This isn’t theoretical. It’s not about policy nuance. It’s about whether the leader of New York City will protect its Jewish citizens—or cater to the mobs who chant “from the river to the sea” while they tear down posters of kidnapped Israelis.
Mamdani’s worldview isn’t one of justice or peace—it’s one of resentment and revenge. He claims to care about “international law” and “human rights,” but somehow those principles always seem to apply only to Israel, never to Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran. When terrorists burn babies and rape women, he has “context.” When Israel defends itself, he has “condemnation.”
And now, when Israel’s prime minister visits our city, he has a fantasy about arresting him.
Could he be a bigger Jew-hater if he tried?
This is not hyperbole—it’s moral clarity.
The people of New York deserve better than a mayor who turns their city into a platform for fringe activists who despise Israel and scorn Jewish life. They deserve a leader who understands that the Jewish community is New York—its culture, its conscience, its heartbeat.
When Mamdani claims he’s “not antisemitic,” remember his record. When he promises “inclusivity,” remember who he excludes. When he talks about “justice,” remember that his idea of justice includes jailing the leader of our ally while terrorists go uncondemned.
No amount of smooth rhetoric can hide what this really is: a campaign built on antagonism toward Jews and their homeland.
New York has faced many crises—crime waves, corruption, fiscal collapse—but never before has it faced the possibility of electing a man who views the Jewish people with such casual contempt.
If this city forgets who it is—if it forgets that its Jewish heritage is part of its moral DNA—it risks losing more than an election. It risks losing its soul.
So let me say this as plainly as possible:
Defeat Zohran Mamdani.
Reject his extremism. Reject his division. Reject his moral blindness.
Vote for a future where Jewish life in New York is celebrated, not threatened. Where our allies are honored, not hunted. And where the mayor of America’s most Jewish city actually stands with the Jewish people.
Because if New York doesn’t stand up now—there might not be much left to defend.
Kevin McCullough is a syndicated columnist with Townhall.com, host of “That KEVIN Show” on Salem News Channel, and a New York–based broadcaster heard daily on AM 970 The Answer.
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