Annexing Judea and Samaria / Electing Zohran Mamdani

Vice President Vance and Prime Minister Netanyahu meet in the PM's office 

 Although this is not what I want to talk about today, I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on it first.

The Knesset voted yesterday to annex Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). It is a meaningless vote since it will never become law. As noted in the JTA:

“Most members of Netanyahu’s party boycotted the votes, and the bills are seen as unlikely to advance to become law.”

Although this area is part of biblical Israel and belongs to the Jewish people by virtue of the word of the Creator Himself, asserting that right legislatively now was a huge mistake for a variety of reasons. One of which became obvious immediately when Israel’s most important ally condemned it. You do not want to bite the hand that feeds you—especially one that has been as generous as the U.S., in spite of the rest of the world doing nothing but criticizing Israel for its war tactics. That alone should have been enough reason not to proceed.

But it doesn’t even make sense politically. There is no chance that Israel will have sovereignty over all of biblical Israel when the Palestinian people, all of Israel’s neighbors and potential peace partners, and the rest of the world reject it.

Annexing the West Bank sends the wrong message. It will only increase the already intolerable number of terrorist attacks from Judea and Samaria. And while Israel has done a decent job of minimizing those attacks over the last few years, they have not disappeared entirely. Annexation would surely increase them to the point where they would overwhelm Israel’s security apparatus.

This was a victory for right-wing extremists and nothing more. I hope I’m wrong—but I see nothing good coming out of this. What were they thinking?!

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Conservative Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove 

On to the subject I do want to talk about: the upcoming election for mayor of New York.

According to most polls, the openly anti-Zionist Zohran Mamdani will win the election against his two opponents handily. The polls don’t even make it close. Mamdani is a shoo-in. And ironically, it may very well be the case that progressive Jews will hand him that victory. Because to most progressive Jews - if they even have an opinion about Israel - it is usually very similar to that of the Palestinians: that Israel is an apartheid state whose decades-long ‘brutal occupation’ over Palestinians must end. And that everything possible must be done to make that happen, including supporting BDS.

This is precisely Mamdani’s position. He is open and unapologetic about it.

This man is about as anti-Israel as one can get. Which is why I am happy to see that, more than ever, not only are Orthodox rabbis and organizations (like Agudah) urging people to vote against Mamdani, but even heterodox rabbis and organizations are doing so.

As noted in the JTA:

As the New York mayoral election draws near, more than 850 rabbis and cantors from across the United States have signed onto a letter voicing their opposition to mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and the ‘political normalization’ of anti-Zionism.

The letter, titled A Rabbinic Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future, cited Mamdani’s previous defense of the slogan ‘globalize the Intifada,’ his denial of Israel’s legitimacy, and his accusations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

The letter quotes Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the leader of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on the Upper West Side, and includes a wide range of rabbis and cantors from over 30 states as well as Toronto. It was organized by the new Jewish Majority advocacy group, led by AIPAC veteran Jonathan Schulman.

The letter also quotes Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Conservative Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side, who urged his congregants during a sermon last week not only to vote against Mamdani but to convince other Jews they know to do the same.”

I am both surprised and pleased that heterodox rabbis - who generally lean left of center - have come out publicly against voting for Mamdani. They are usually reticent to endorse or oppose candidates. And a progressive like Mamdani is only a bit further left than many of them. Not to mention that younger secular Jews tend to lean even more progressive. So it’s refreshing to see a bit of cross-denominational unity among the Jewish people. At least on this one, very important issue.

Thing is, this may all be beside the point. As noted the polls are predicting a near landslide for him. This does nrt mean the New York Jews should give up and stay home on election day. They need to do what they can. You never know. 

Does this mean the Jews of New York are doomed? Are they, for example, going to lose protections against antisemitic acts? I don’t think so. Mamdani is too smart to let that happen - thereby lending credence to those who have accused him of antisemitism. My guess is that he will go out of his way to protect the Jewish community from antisemitic attacks, if only to ‘prove’ he is not an antisemite.

But what his election may do is increase those attacks indirectly by emboldening people to act against us based on anti-Israel sentiment. The anti-Israel rhetoric, which is vile but with which he agrees will surely be defended by Mamdani as ‘free speech’. That will inevitably generate more violence against us.

The day Mamdani takes office will be a sad day for the Jewish people. Not only in New York, but for Jews all over the world. If attacks increase there, they will increase elsewhere. We will simply have to be more vigilant for at least the next four years. Until Mamdani is defeated in the next election. May it be God’s will.