From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
NY progressive Jewish group condemns anti-AIPAC rhetoric after Mamdani comments
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The New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive advocacy group, condemns rhetoric demonizing AIPAC after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani likened the pro-Israel lobby to “monsters.”
The statement stands out because the group has had a friendly relationship with Mamdani, and its former director heads the mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism.
“We have been deeply critical of AIPAC’s policies and approach to politics. No matter those very deep differences, it’s vital that our leaders to not resort to rhetoric and attacks that only reinforce polarization and division,” the group says in a statement.
“Especially at this moment of fear and rising antisemitism, flattening these urgent conversations with dehumanizing language is counterproductive to building a broad and vibrant movement for human dignity,” says the statement, without naming Mamdani.
— New York Jewish Agenda (@NYJewishAgenda) June 23, 2026
Mamdani’s description of AIPAC as “monsters” seeking “genocide” and “to turn us against one another” last week sparked a firestorm of criticism from both centrist Jewish groups, and some of Mamdani’s Jewish supporters.
Mamdani doubled down on the statement yesterday, tying AIPAC to “death and destruction” and a “status quo for immorality.”
The former director of the New York Jewish Agenda, Phylisa Wisdom, left the group earlier this year to head Mamdani’s Office to Combat Antisemitism.
Representatives of the New York Jewish Agenda attended Mamdani’s Shavuot event last month, which leading Jewish groups boycotted. In December, Mamdani, then the mayor-elect, attended a Hanukkah event hosted by the group.
The New York Jewish Agenda has applauded past actions by Mamdani, such as his funding for combating hate crimes.
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