EXCLUSIVE: Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, urged New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” following the devastating antisemitic attack in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Hirsch said American Jews are on edge after two gunmen killed 15 people and injured dozens more during a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration last weekend. Amid the global rise in antisemitism, Hirsch said politicians and “every moral authority” should express solidarity with the Jewish community and condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.”
“What does ‘globalize the intifada’ mean? It means Bondi Beach,” Hirsch said, while urging “every responsible political and moral authority” to condemn the phrase that he described as a “call to mass genocide.”
The term “globalize the intidafa” — which Hirsch said means “destroy Israel” — took center stage in New York City’s mayoral election this year after Mamdani refused to condemn the phrase, arguing that he does not support policing language. The mayor-elect has since committed to discouraging others from using it but has stopped short of outright condemnation.
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“He should condemn it. It’s not simply a question of [whether] he doesn’t encourage its use,” Hirsch said.
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“I want to make a distinction. That is different from saying, ‘I believe that the Palestinians deserve a state, and this state should live side-by-side in peace with Israel.’ That’s not what the ‘globalize the intifada’ group mean. They mean ‘destroy Israel,’ and that has to be condemned by every responsible political and moral authority,” Hirsch said.
Hirsch was clear that criticizing the Israeli government — as many Americans have since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waged war in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel — is not antisemitic.
“But that’s not Zoran Mamdani’s approach, and it’s not the approach of his allies,” Hirsch said. “He has been opposed to the existence of Israel as a Jewish state from childhood, and that is a fundamental distinction and is very dangerous.”
Mamdani has deep roots in pro-Palestinian activism, having founded his college’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
As a New York State assemblyman, Mamdani proposed legislation to prohibit “not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.”
More recently, Mamdani affirmed his support for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) — the pro-Palestinian movement to divest from Israel.
When pressed about his anti-Israel views on the campaign trail, Mamdani affirmed his commitment to protecting Jewish New Yorkers if elected.
But Hirsch cautioned that “even the rhetoric of anti-Zionism, let alone the pursuit of anti-Zionist policies, generates hostility to Jews and to the Jewish community.”
“Therefore, even if you put 20 cops outside a Jewish institution, it will still be more dangerous for Jewish life because the environment will be much more hostile,” Hirsch added. “And what happens to Jews never stays with the Jews. This is why it’s an issue for everyone, for all New Yorkers, and for all Americans too, because New York is such an important component of American society, but if hostility to Jews grows, then the city itself will become more violent, a nastier place, a less tolerant place, a city that looks different from the city that we love.”
Hirsch made his comments to Fox News Digital less than one month after protesters gathered outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue, calling for an “intifada,” for the death of Israel Defense Forces and chanting, “We don’t want no Zionists here.”
Ahead of Election Day, New York City rabbis joined more than 650 rabbis nationwide to sign “A Rabbinic Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future,” affirming that Jewish Americans “cannot remain silent” on discrimination against Jewish people and citing Mamdani’s anti-Israel stances.
As Mamdani gears up to lead City Hall next year, he recently met with a group of Jewish leaders in New York City, including rabbis, like Hirsch, who expressed concerns about his candidacy. New York City is home to the largest diaspora of Jews outside of Israel.
“My primary concern, and what I would love to be able to impress on the mayor-elect, is even if you don’t wake up tomorrow, and you’ve been convinced, and you become a Zionist, understand that rhetoric leads to action, words lead to deeds, and anti-Zionism is a hateful ideology, and it leads to hateful acts against Jews, no matter how many cops you put outside Jewish institutions. That’s the key thing,” Hirsch said.
Hirsch told Fox News Digital that he appreciated Mamdani’s willingness to meet with Jewish leaders, even those who “largely disagree with him.”
“He made an effort to come out and reach out to people and not only us, but other members of the Jewish community, and I think that is constructive, and that’s to be welcomed,” Hirsch said.
But the senior rabbi said the rest is up to Mamdani. “It’s your choice,” Hirsch said, addressing the mayor-elect directly.
“I just hope for the sake, not only for the sake of the Jewish community, but for the New York City that we all love, that mayor-elect Mamdani will speak judiciously in this respect when it comes to his past animosity towards the very existence of Israel,” Hirsch added, while urging him to “refrain from policies that will fan the flames of hostility in the city and exacerbate what is already now a very tense environment and a very vulnerable American and New York Jewish community.”
While Hirsch encouraged Mamdani this week to reconsider his positions on Israel, the mayor-elect quickly released an outright condemnation of the Bondi Beach attack Sunday morning.
“The attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney today was a vile act of antisemitic terror. I mourn those who were murdered and will be keeping their families, the Jewish community, and the Chabad movement in my prayers,” Mamdani said in a statement.
“When I am Mayor, I will work every day to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe—on our streets, our subways, at shul, in every moment of every day. Let this be a purpose shared by every New Yorker, and let us banish this horrific violence to the past,” the mayor-elect added.
Mamdani’s transition team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s comment request.
