I'm a Zionist Jew from New York; I Had to Vote Mamdani
The decision was agonizing and took me weeks to consider. As a New Yorker and lifelong Zionist, I asked myself, Who would be the best candidate for mayor to lead our city forward in these dark times?
A key moment came during a conversation with a respected family friend, an Israeli who has lived in New York for 25 years. He said about Andrew Cuomo, whom I already distrusted as arrogant, too old, and a womanizer:
I'd vote for Bibi, who you know I despise, before I'd vote for Cuomo.
He explained that many Israelis, who called Mamdani an antisemite and a threat to Jews in America, lacked the proper context to understand this mayoral race. Similarly, Israelis accuse Americans of not fully grasping the complexities behind their strong support for the Palestinian cause.
For instance, many Americans supporting the Palestinians do not understand what the phrase From the river to the Sea
truly means. They have never visited Israel and do not realize how close and vulnerable the borders are, nor the constant Hamas attacks.
Moreover, Hamas has for decades deliberately embedded fighters and weapons in hospitals, schools, and mosques, putting their own civilians at risk. Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government underestimated the possibility of a Hamas attack as severe as the one on October 7.
Key Points Highlighted
- Dislike and mistrust of Andrew Cuomo for personal and political reasons.
- Israeli perspectives often miss the full context of American politics.
- Many Americans support Palestinians without understanding the on-the-ground realities in Israel.
- Hamas's tactics put their own civilians in danger by embedding military operations within civilian infrastructure.
- Netanyahu’s government failed to anticipate the scale of the October 7 Hamas attack.
Author's Summary
Choosing Mamdani was a difficult but informed decision shaped by complex personal, political, and international perspectives on the local election and broader Israeli-Palestinian issues.