Mamdani Backs Jewish Candidate Who’s Also Anti-Israel Just Days Before Netanyahu’s Arrival

Just days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive in New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is throwing his support behind a “proudly Jewish” anti-Israel candidate — after vowing not to endorse the Democratic Socialist during his successful primary.The eleventh-hour endorsement comes as Mr. Mamdani faces a Jewish population that increasingly reports feeling unsafe in his city and prepares for anti-Zionist and antisemitic upheaval around Mr. Netanyahu’s visit, which some community leaders say Mr. Mamdani has encouraged.The Democratic Socialist candidate, David Orkin, is running in a deep blue Queens district against an underfunded Republican. He didn’t garner Mr. Mamdani’s endorsement during his primary bid. The mayor had secured the speaker of the assembly’s support for his campaign by agreeing not to back DSA candidates against incumbent Democrats. Mr. Orkin nonetheless went on to unseat Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “I am proud to endorse David Orkin for Assembly District 38. David will be a tireless champion for our affordability agenda in Albany. We’re 46 days out from Election Day; will you help us get out the vote?” the post on the mayor’s X account reads.It is unclear why he decided to make the endorsement on Friday.Mr. Orkin, who worked as a staff attorney at the Soros-backed immigrant advocacy non-profit Make The Road until earlier this year, has told interviewers that he “felt called to migrant justice work” as “the son of a Mexican immigrant.” In announcing his campaign last January, Mr. Orkin delved a bit deeper into his family history, stating that his mother’s “Jewish grandparents migrated to Mexico to escape the persecution of the pogroms.” Since then, every public statement he has made proclaiming himself “proudly Jewish” has been accompanied by a disclaimer asserting his support for Palestine.As Mr. Mamdani’s comms team pressed “post” on the endorsement Friday, students from two Modern Orthodox schools were assembling for a vigil outside his official residence. Principal of SAR Academy Rabbi Binyamin Krauss called the choice of venue “obviously intentional.” The intended message was a “positive statement,” he told The Jerusalem News Syndicate: “We’re here. We’re Jewish. We want to be safe and express our Zionism.”Mr. Mamdani previously told reporters he was unlikely to attend the event.Mr. Mamdani campaigned on a promise to have Mr. Netanyahu arrested if he set foot in New York. When it became clear that he lacked the legal authority to detain the head of state, the mayor declared him “not welcome” in a video message that also reminded New Yorkers of their right to protest, a move some public safety officials and leaders of New York’s Jewish communities viewed as a provocation. “What’s happening is that New Yorkers and Americans are taking out their anger at the Israeli government on Jewish people here, and that’s not OK,” Rabbi Rachel Timoner of Congregation Beth Elohim told ABC News last month following a meeting with 10 rabbis the mayor hosted at City Hall, as antipathy between Mr. Mamdani and Israeli politicians reached a fever pitch.

Mamdani Backs Jewish Candidate Who’s Also Anti-Israel Just Days Before Netanyahu’s Arrival

Mamdani Backs Jewish Candidate Who’s Also Anti-Israel Just Days Before Netanyahu’s Arrival

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