Mamdani’s Victory Proves the Dems Have Abandoned Jews | The American Spectator

The outcome of the 2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary is a defining moment for Jewish Americans and the country. The Democratic Party has officially elevated a candidate, Zohran Mamdani, who has built his political career on an explicit record of anti-Israel statements, refusal to condemn terrorism, and support for policies that endanger the Jewish community. His victory is a clear demonstration that antisemitic sentiment is no longer confined to the radical fringe of the Democratic Party. Instead, it has become an institutional belief.

Following the October 7, 2023, massacre perpetrated by Hamas, in which over 1,200 Israelis were murdered — including the documented rape of women and the burning alive of children — Mamdani chose not to issue a direct condemnation of the terrorist group. During public appearances and interviews in the weeks following the attack, he repeatedly shifted attention away from Hamas’s war crimes and instead accused Israel of maintaining an “apartheid regime.”

Mamdani is free to reject solidarity with the Jewish state, of course, but he also refused to recognize any of the atrocities committed and refused to condemn the perpetrators. Such moral evasion in the face of documented crimes against humanity is indefensible — and now rewarded within the Democratic Party.

This normalization of antisemitism within the Democratic Party is not limited to Mamdani. In December 2024, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to allow the Antisemitism Awareness Act to proceed to a floor vote. The bill, which would have mandated the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism by federal agencies, was neither controversial nor radical.

The IHRA definition has been adopted by over 40 democratic nations and provides the most widely accepted framework for identifying contemporary antisemitism, including cases where anti-Zionist rhetoric crosses into the delegitimization of Israel’s right to exist.

Schumer’s refusal to advance the legislation was a signal to the party’s base: protecting Jewish students, institutions, and communities from organized harassment is not a Democratic priority. Despite Schumer’s personal identity as the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history, he made a political calculation. That calculation — whether motivated by fear of intra-party backlash or ideological realignment — has placed the Jewish community at risk.

I recently conducted an interview with Dakarai Larriett, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama. Larriett is not an extremist. He is earnest, thoughtful, and, by all appearances, genuinely concerned with justice. He spoke at length about the experiences of his grandparents during the civil rights era and emphasized the importance of building bridges between the black and Jewish communities. His empathy was authentic. But even in that context, the divide between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party became undeniable.

When asked directly about the alarming rise in antisemitism nationwide — including campus protests promoting “Intifada,” assaults against Jewish students, and violent threats against Israel supporters — Larriett admitted he had “more to learn.”

His responses consisted of abstractions. Larriett discussed the importance of visibility and culture, but failed to reference any concrete events, policies, or federal investigations. He made no mention of the Department of Education’s ongoing Title VI investigations into universities such as CUNY and UCLA, where Jewish students have been systematically harassed for supporting Israel. He offered no policy solutions, no support for the IHRA definition, and no criticism of the Democratic leaders who have stalled legislation on these issues.

Even more troubling, Larriett declined to condemn Senator Schumer’s obstruction of the Antisemitism Awareness Act. Instead, he cited Schumer as a model of Jewish representation within the Democratic Party. The contradiction could not have been more stark. If the party’s leading Jewish figure actively prevents the government from adopting basic protections for Jewish Americans, and rising candidates choose to defend him, then what does that say about the values of the party?

When I asked Larriett whether his views on Israel aligned more closely with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, he hesitated. He described Israel as “spiritually important” and mentioned a past visit to Jerusalem, but ultimately stated that he was still “forming a position on Israel.”

In 2025, no serious federal candidate should be uncertain about Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign nation.

The challenge Jewish Americans face is not limited to rhetorical ambiguity. In June 2024, Representative Rashida Tlaib introduced a House resolution accusing Israel of committing genocide — despite overwhelming evidence documenting Hamas’s use of human shields, underground tunnels in civilian neighborhoods, and intentional targeting of noncombatants. Meanwhile, over 100 Democratic members of the House of Representatives refused to support a resolution condemning a May 2025 terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, in which one Jewish American was killed and three others were badly burned while participating in a peaceful Israel solidarity rally.

Mamdani’s — and the Democrats’ — Other Issues

Mamdani’s legislative record is equally alarming and extends far beyond antisemitism. In 2023, he co-sponsored Assembly Bill A05478, which mandates that correctional facilities in New York house inmates based solely on self-declared gender identity, regardless of biological sex and without medical documentation. A similar law in California led to 300 transfer requests from biological males to women’s prisons within the first year. By mid-2023, at least four pregnancies had been confirmed in California women’s correctional facilities as a direct result of these policies.

In matters of immigration, Mamdani supported Assembly Bill A03506, which prohibits law enforcement officers from inquiring about a suspect’s immigration status — even during felony investigations. Such policies mirror sanctuary city laws that contributed to high-profile tragedies, including the 2015 murder of Kate Steinle in San Francisco by an undocumented immigrant with five prior deportations and multiple outstanding detainers.

Mamdani endorsed Assembly Bill A01749, which imposes burdensome packaging mandates on businesses. A similar policy adopted in Maine increased annual compliance costs for small businesses by $7,000 to $50,000. According to estimates from the National Federation of Independent Business, New York retailers could lose up to 7 percent in annual revenue if the state implements comparable packaging regulations. These losses will hit small, family-owned enterprises the hardest.

The Dems and the Jews

The evidence is overwhelming. The Democratic Party has abandoned its former commitment to Jewish safety, a Jewish national homeland, and democratic solidarity with the State of Israel. It has allowed anti-Jewish sentiment to flourish within its ranks, refused to advance legislation combating antisemitism, and elevated voices who undermine the basic rights of Jewish Americans. This is no longer a matter of ideological disagreement. It is a matter of moral disintegration.

This moment must be met with moral clarity. Whether or not one resides in New York City, the consequences of Mamdani’s rise — and the broader radicalization of the Democratic Party — will be felt across the country. Policies that embolden terrorists, dismantle public safety, and penalize small businesses affect every American.

The Democratic Party, once a political home for Jewish Americans, has now become a party that excuses, enables, and empowers antisemitism. Jewish Americans committed to their faith, safety, and democratic values must recognize that political loyalty cannot be unconditional. The time for denial has passed.

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