Israel’s Minister of Diaspora and Combating Anti-Semitism, Amichai Shikli, on Wednesday criticized New York’s mayor-elect, Zahran Mamdani, describing him as a “Hamas supporter” and called on the city’s Jewish community to move to Israel after his victory.
The right-wing minister wrote through his account on the “X” platform: “The city that was once a symbol of global freedom has handed over its keys to a Hamas supporter.”
Shikli believed that Mamdani “is not far in his positions from the extremists who killed 3,000 residents” of New York 25 years ago, referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda in both New York and Washington.
Mamdani (34 years old) is the first Muslim who will assume the mayor of the largest city in the United States in January 2026.
Recently, Mamdani asserted, “We will build a municipality that does not hesitate to combat the scourge of anti-Semitism, and where more than a million Muslims know they belong.”
The elected mayor of New York is considered a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause.
His positions on Israel, which he described as an “apartheid regime” and described the war in Gaza as “genocide,” angered some members of the Jewish community, but he did not back down from them.
The Israeli Minister of the Diaspora believed that “New York will never be the same, especially for the Jewish community in it. New York is walking with its eyes open towards the abyss into which London has sunk.”
He added in his post: “I call on the Jews of New York to seriously consider making their new home in the Land of Israel.”
Mamdani’s election victory came despite fierce attacks on his policies and Islamic origins by economic elites, conservative commentators in the media, and US President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Trump attacked Mamdani on his platform (Truth Social), describing him as “anti-Jewish.”
