Mamdani Silent on Anti-Israel Rhetoric After Hanukkah Massacre

In the wake of a horrific terror attack on a Jewish community celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney, Australia, New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani remains conspicuously silent on his past refusal to denounce the inflammatory slogan “globalize the intifada.”

The mass shooting, which took place Sunday at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, left at least 15 people dead and dozens injured. Authorities have confirmed that the assailants a father and son deliberately targeted Jewish worshippers, and they are treating the massacre as an act of antisemitic terrorism. One attacker was killed on site; the other remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Mamdani, who made headlines last month as the first Muslim elected mayor of the country’s largest city, issued a statement calling the attack a “vile act of antisemitic terror.” But when pressed on whether he would finally distance himself from the slogan "globalize the intifada" long associated with calls for violence against Jews worldwide Mamdani offered no clarification.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The phrase “globalize the intifada” has been widely used at anti-Israel protests and is often interpreted as a call to expand violent resistance movements that include suicide bombings, stabbings, and shootings against Jewish civilians.

• Mamdani previously refused to outright denounce the slogan, saying only that he would "discourage" its use a tepid response that raised concerns from Jewish leaders and safety advocates.

• According to the NYPD, antisemitic hate crimes in New York City are up over 65% in 2025, fueled in part by rhetoric at anti-Israel protests that blur the line between political dissent and incitement.

Mamdani’s refusal to revisit his stance comes just as a powerful column by New York Times writer Bret Stephens tied Sunday’s massacre directly to the ideology behind the slogan. “On Sunday, those consequences were written in Jewish blood,” Stephens wrote, warning that slogans like “resistance is justified” and “by any means necessary” are no longer metaphorical they are literal instructions for violence.

Despite receiving over 4 million views on X, Mamdani’s post drew backlash from many in the Jewish community and beyond, who saw his condemnation of the attack as hollow without a full rejection of the violent language that helps fuel such atrocities.

Rabbi Eli Schlanger, one of the victims and a beloved figure in Sydney’s Jewish community with strong ties to Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, had recently written a letter urging Australia’s prime minister to take a stronger stance in support of Israel. His murder has shaken Jews around the world including thousands of New Yorkers who had personal connections to him.

The real question is this how can a man who wants to “keep Jewish New Yorkers safe” in his own words also remain unwilling to unequivocally condemn a phrase that has been used to justify stabbing, shooting, and bombing Jews from Jerusalem to New York?

This is more than political posturing. Words have consequences. The failure of elected officials to take strong stands against antisemitic slogans and ideologies has created a dangerous environment in cities like New York, where mobs chanting “intifada” have marched unopposed through Jewish neighborhoods.

The incoming mayor has a choice. He can either be the leader of all New Yorkers including the hundreds of thousands of Jewish residents who feel increasingly under siege or he can continue to appease the radical voices who see violence as a form of activism.

So far, silence is speaking volumes.

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