Zohran Mamdani Ignores Israel and Holocaust Assembly Resolutions

New York City mayoral hopeful and State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani refused to sign a resolution acknowledging Israel’s right to exist, and another which condemns the Holocaust, Politico reported Friday.

The decisions, which have stirred outrage among Jewish leaders and lawmakers, are part of what critics say is Mamdani’s radically antisemitic political platform, which included attending a protest against Israel on October 8 2023, as Israel was still identifying the murdered victims of the Oct 7 massacre.

Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America party, is currently trailing former Governor Andrew Cuomo to earn the Democratic party’s nomination.

Critics say Mamdani’s refusal to support non-controverdisl, Jewish-related resolutions reveals his true feelings. “He condemned Israel the day after October 7th, regularly gives interviews on unapologetic antisemitic platforms and just proudly accepted an endorsement from a disgraced former fire-alarm pulling Congressman” who initially denied elements of the Oct 7 massacre, said Assemblymember Sam Berger, referring to Mamdani’s alliance with Jamaal Bowman.

Mamdani also vowed to, if elected, arrest Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu if he were to visit New York under the ICC warrant, despite the Court not having jurisdiction in the US.

Berger didn’t hold back: “His plan to ‘combat’ antisemitism is tossing more money at the Jews. At what point do we acknowledge that if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck and quacks like a duck — it’s a duck?”

Traditionally, resolutions recognizing Israel’s founding and memorializing the Holocaust have passed almost unanimously. Mamdani was one of just five lawmakers out of 150 who refused to sign at least one of the two measures this year.

His campaign spokesman, Andrew Epstein, claimed Mamdani supports the Holocaust Memorial Day resolution and has made statements about it in the past. But when pressed, Epstein could not explain why Mamdani skipped signing the same resolution back in 2024, long before his mayoral campaign officially began.

Epstein tried to deflect criticism by pointing to Mamdani’s busy schedule juggling campaign and legislative duties. Yet the record shows Mamdani has affixed his name to numerous resolutions in recent years, everything from Neurodiversity Pride Day to Transit Equity Day, often without direct involvement.

In the case of the Israel resolution, Epstein said Mamdani refused to sign because the text asserts that Israel “continues to strive for peace with security and dignity for itself, its neighbors and throughout the world,” a statement he believes doesn’t reflect the reality of the country’s current government.

But to many in the Assembly, including the resolution’s sponsor, Assemblymember Nily Rozic, the first Israeli-born member of the chamber, that justification rings hollow. “Supporting Israel’s right to exist is a fundamental American value — one that goes back more than 77 years and that an overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers support,” Rozic said. “This is not something Democrats should be relitigating now when our resources and energies are greatly needed elsewhere.”

Cuomo has prioritized combating antisemitism in his campaign, while attempting to regain favor among Jewish voters after singling out Jewish neighborhoods as “red zones” during the pandemic and allegedly misleading Jewish leaders about allowing shuls to remain open.