THE NEW YORK TIMES: Jewish leaders rebuke Mamdani over response to Park East Synagogue protest

It was the first high-profile incident since Zohran Mamdani’s election involving one of New York City’s most sensitive flash points: the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

A rowdy protest descended Wednesday on Park East Synagogue, one of New York’s most prominent Modern Orthodox congregations, which had rented space to an organisation that helps Jews move to Israel as well as to settlements in the occupied West Bank. Chants of “death to the IDF” and “globalise the intifada” rang through the air.

Mamdani, the mayor-elect, responded the next day, saying through a spokesperson that he “discouraged the language” used at the protest and that New Yorkers must be “free to enter a house of worship without intimidation.”

But it was what he said next that alarmed some Jewish leaders: He chastised the synagogue, saying through his spokesperson that “these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.”

Mamdani, who will become mayor on January 1, has struggled to build bonds with segments of the Jewish population, many of whom opposed his candidacy in part because of his sustained criticism of Israel and his pro-Palestinian activism.

And though Mamdani has said he will protect Jewish institutions amid heightened levels of antisemitism and hate crimes, his initial response to the protest did little to quell that unease and was widely criticised by some Jewish leaders.

On Monday, he tried to move beyond the issue, this time omitting any criticism of the synagogue, with a more forceful denunciation of the protesters.

“We will protect New Yorkers’ First Amendment rights while making clear that nothing can justify language calling for ‘death to’ anyone,” Mamdani said in a statement to The New York Times. “It is unacceptable, full stop.”

A spokesperson also said that Mamdani spoke with the synagogue’s rabbi and the rabbi’s son, who is also a rabbi.

At the heart of the conflict are the activities of Nefesh B’Nefesh, a non-profit organisation that helps North American Jews move to Israeli cities like Haifa and Tel Aviv but also promotes migration to dozens of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

On Monday, Mamdani’s spokesperson clarified that the mayor-elect believed any violations of international law were confined to the organisation’s promotion of settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, which Israel took control of from Jordan after it was invaded in 1967.

Critics took issue with the implication that the synagogue had done something wrong.

“A synagogue is where Jews learn, pray, and strengthen Jewish life,” William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations, said on social media.

“Teaching about aliyah and Zionism belongs in that space. It reflects who we are as a people.” (Jews make “aliyah” when they move to Israel.)

The clash also highlighted a difference in approach between Mamdani and the police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, a strong supporter of Israel who appeared at the synagogue in person on Saturday.

Speaking at Shabbat services, Tisch expressed regret that the Police Department had not done more to shield the synagogue’s entryway from the protest’s “turmoil,” especially at a time of “heightened fear” within the Jewish community.

She also said she deeply and personally understood the pain the congregation was experiencing. Her comments were met with a standing ovation, according to The Times of Israel.

Daroff, who said he also sits on the board of Nefesh B’Nefesh, said in an interview Monday that he was unimpressed by Mamdani’s handling of the incident.

“I’m hopeful that this is a sign that the mayor-elect will be more careful in their words and their expressions, but the jury is still out,” he said. “We are still judging him, and I’d say that at the moment he’s got a failing grade.”

Yael Katsman, a spokesperson for Nefesh B’Nefesh, said about 150 people attended the gathering at the synagogue Wednesday, which the organisation had rented for an event she described as “a holistic overview of the logistics involved in relocating to another country,” including issues like finding schools, jobs and health care in a new place.

In a statement on its website, Nefesh B’Nefesh said it was “dedicated to supporting, educating, and advising individuals and families throughout their Aliyah (immigration to Israel) journey.” The group condemned “the violent rhetoric and aggressive behaviour that took place outside of the Park East Synagogue.”

Katsman said Nefesh B’Nefesh “does not endorse, recommend, or promote any specific community, location or neighbourhood to move to in Israel.”

But that appeared to be at odds with the organisation’s website, which contains pages of detailed recommendations about life in Israeli towns as well as in some of the largest settlement blocs in the West Bank.

Those include the 22 settlements in Gush Etzion, an area south of Jerusalem, and Ma’ale Adumim, a large settlement between the northern and southern West Bank that many Palestinians see as a threat to the territorial integrity of any future Palestinian state.

Nefesh B’Nefesh encourages Americans to move to smaller settlements, too, which it portrays as integral parts of Israel. It describes the settlement of Elkana, in the occupied West Bank, for example, as “a beautiful, comfortable and well-situated community in the center of Israel. Location! Location! Location!”

The group that organised the protest, the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation Awda of New York and New Jersey, declined to comment on Monday.

But in statements posted online, it denounced the event at Park East Synagogue as “a settler recruiting fair, which seeks to recruit American settlers to illegally occupy stolen Palestinian land.”

The chaos outside Park East Synagogue comes at a disquieting time for American Jews. In New York City, hate crimes against Jews have soared in recent years, which has left some Jewish New Yorkers on edge.

“If you are standing outside a synagogue calling for ‘intifada revolution,’ you are not peacefully protesting,” Micah Lasher, a state Assembly member on the Upper West Side and a candidate for Congress, said on social media. “You are trying to intimidate and create fear among Jews, and that is never acceptable.”

In audio recordings published online from Wednesday’s protest by The Times of Israel, a man can be heard addressing the crowd, with a large group of protesters repeating him in unison, a frequent low-tech tactic used to amplify a speech without using microphones or sound systems.

“It is our duty to make them think twice before holding these events,” the speaker says. Then he repeats, three times: “We need to make them scared!”

On Friday, Mamdani called Rabbi Marc Schneier, the founder of Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, New York, and the son of the rabbi at Park East, who suggested that the mayor-elect back legislation barring demonstrations directly outside of houses of worship.

“He told me, ‘Rabbi, I love the idea and I can’t thank you enough,’” said Schneier, who is an outspoken critic of Mamdani. (The mayor-elect expressed his interest in hearing more details about the Schneier pitch, according to Dora Pekec, his spokesperson.)

On Sunday, Mamdani spoke with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, the rabbi at Park East, who made a similar pitch, Pekec said.

Liz Krueger, the state senator whose district encompasses Park East, said she was considering introducing legislation advancing the idea in Albany.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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