Mamdani condemns swastika graffiti while ignoring massive outcry over his Israel lobby comments

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemns an incident of swastika graffiti, while ignoring widespread Jewish community fears over his own rhetoric.

Mamdani says a swastika carved into a car in Manhattan “is a despicable act of antisemitism.”

“It is a hateful attack of intimidation on our Jewish neighbors and on the values that make our city what it is,” he says in a statement.

“To every Jewish New Yorker: your city stands with you. We will confront acts of antisemitism wherever they appear with urgency and without exception.”

The statement comes after more than 700 rabbis issued an open letter earlier today saying Mamdani had “put a target on the backs of American Jews” in a speech last week.

In that speech, he likened the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC to “monsters” channeling “millions in dark money” to “preserve their power,” enact genocide and foment societal divisions.

National Jewish groups, the chair of the city’s Jewish caucus and antisemitism task force, and some leftist Jews who are more sympathetic to Mamdani all decried the comments as discriminatory toward Jews.

He doubled down on the statements earlier this week and has not issued further comment since.

Swastika graffiti turns up regularly around New York.

Mamdani also endorsed a Congressional candidate, Darializa Avila Chevalier, who won her primary this week after attending a rally that celebrated the October 2023 Hamas onslaught in Israel the day after it happened and refused to condemn Hamas during her campaign.