A new firestorm has erupted in New York City’s charged political landscape after more than 700 pro-Israel rabbis and cantors signed an open letter released Friday calling on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to walk back inflammatory remarks that compared the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) to monsters.
Widely recognized as one of the most influential foreign policy advocacy organizations in the United States, Aipac has built its reputation by spending millions of dollars to defeat electoral candidates who take public critical stances toward Israel. The open letter was organized by The Jewish Majority, a relatively new advocacy group launched by Jonathan Schulman, a former Aipac staffer with nearly 20 years of experience working with the organization.
The letter opens by acknowledging the diverse ideological backgrounds of its signatories: “We are rabbis and cantors from across the United States. We serve different communities, hold different political views, and do not speak with one voice on every question concerning Israel, American politics or the war in Gaza.” But it quickly establishes unified condemnation of Mamdani’s rhetoric, adding: “But we are united in our belief that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recent speech about pro-Israel civic participation is dangerous, unacceptable and beneath the office he holds.”
Mamdani first made the controversial comments during a June 18 campaign rally alongside independent US Senator Bernie Sanders. At the event, he framed Aipac as a group of “monsters” that leverages millions in unreported dark money to advance a singular goal: holding onto political power by sowing division among the American public.
In the open letter, the rabbis argue that Mamdani’s language constitutes an act of dehumanization that amplifies rising antisemitism across the United States. “History demonstrates that campaigns against Jews often begin with rhetoric portraying them as uniquely sinister, uniquely powerful and somehow less deserving of equal treatment,” the letter reads. “Mr. Mamdani’s words invoke a familiar story about Jewish power, Jewish money and Jewish manipulation of public life.”
For his part, Mamdani has long pushed back against claims that criticism of Israel or anti-Zionist views equate to antisemitism, and he has refused to apologize for his remarks. When pressed by reporters to clarify his comments earlier this week, the mayor doubled down on his criticism, tying his remarks directly to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“I want to be very clear. We’re talking about a status quo where children are being killed on a daily basis. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since the so-called ceasefire, [including] Al Jazeera journalist Ahmed Wishah, who was killed this past Saturday by an Israeli strike,” Mamdani told reporters.
“When I am speaking about Aipac, I’m speaking about an organisation that has been supportive of the status quo, that has fought any attempt to actually deliver safety to people, not just in Palestine, but frankly, through much of the region – and it is a status quo for immorality,” he added. “It is one that I will not accept.”
When asked specifically if he regretted using the term “monsters”, Mamdani claimed he was quoting a widely cited line from Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, though scholarly analysis has repeatedly found the specific phrasing he used is often misattributed or misquoted. “The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters,” Mamdani explained, arguing he used the term to describe all actors blocking systemic change, not just Aipac.
Mamdani’s refusal to apologize drew fierce condemnation from right-wing media outlets across the US, which lambasted the mayor for his stance. The open letter from rabbis comes just one week after Mamdani’s progressive political movement passed a critical early electoral milestone: all three of the congressional candidates he endorsed won hotly contested Democratic primary races.
All three of the winning candidates have maintained open, consistent criticism of Israeli policy toward Gaza. In the most high-profile upset, public defender and first-time candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated five-term incumbent Congressman Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Former city comptroller Brad Lander unseated incumbent Representative Dan Goldman, while state assembly member and former union organizer Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the race to fill the open seat left by retiring Representative Nydia Velazquez.
Supporters of the progressive movement quickly celebrated the three victories as evidence that Mamdani’s political project is not a passing fad, but rather the start of a lasting ideological shift within New York’s Democratic Party. Not all reactions were positive, however: the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a prominent national pro-Israel organization, labeled the primary wins antisemitic, claiming they sent a “chilling” message to Jewish New Yorkers. On Friday, the ADL publicly endorsed the rabbis’ open letter on its social media platform X.
Alongside backing the letter, the ADL also issued condemnations of two unrelated political developments this week: a recent United Nations report that documents allegations of Israeli forces intentionally targeting Palestinian children, and a nuclear deal signed by former President Donald Trump’s administration to end escalating hostilities with Iran.