What my friends’ support for Mamdani revealed about Jewish identity - comment

The author reflects on how her close New York friends voted for Zohran Mamdani, despite his antisemitic rhetoric, revealing a disconnect between American Jewish identity and Israel. She traces her secular upbringing in a Jewish bubble and argues that her friends' lowered awareness of antisemitism, combined with selective ignorance about Israel, has widened the gap between them.

The author, a Jerusalem Post columnist, reflects on the revelation that about a third of New York Jews voted for Zohran Mamdani, including most of her oldest and closest friends. She draws a parallel to the 'devil' speech from the film Broadcast News, arguing that her friends' awareness of antisemitism has been lowered 'bit by little bit.' She cites Mamdani's antisemitic tropes: calling Jewish lobbyists 'monsters' who 'move dark money,' saying 'When the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it's been laced by the IDF,' and his October 8 tweet that did not mention Hamas but called for 'an end to occupation and dismantling apartheid.' She contrasts her friends' selective ignorance about Israel with her own experience on October 7, when her son Danny, who is on the autism spectrum, faced missile attacks near the Gaza Envelope. The author traces her secular Upper West Side upbringing in a Jewish bubble, where antisemitism was believed to be in the past, and argues that her friends still live in that bubble, focused on anti-Trump activism while ignoring the realities of antisemitism and Israel. The piece is a personal commentary on the widening distance between Israel and parts of American Jewry.