He added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the only prime minister many American Jews are familiar with due to his long tenure, is \u201cbeholden to extremist parties\u201d whose policies go against the values of liberal US Jews.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the eyes of American Jews, the West Bank\u2019s settlements and illiberal policies they represent pose a threat to Israel\u2019s founding promise, democracy,\u201d he said. \u201cFor a progressive American Jew, if the project of Israel is to provide a homeland and security to a historically vulnerable Jewish minority, then how can the state not respond to the needs of the vulnerable minority in its midst?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may not like the fact that 30 percent of New York Jews voted for Mamdani<\/a>, but you shouldn\u2019t be surprised by it. For a liberal Zionist disillusioned by the Israeli government, Mamdani\u2019s anti-Zionism is a difference of degree, not of kind. He understood the fissures of our community better than we ourselves did,\u201d said Cosgrove, who is a harsh critic of Mamdani.<\/p>\n \t Cosgrove called on the American Jewish community to engage in \u201cheshbon nefesh,\u201d or a spiritual soul-searching.<\/p>\n \u201cThe argument that it\u2019s somehow treasonous to criticize this or that Israeli policy simply doesn\u2019t hold, as long as that criticism comes from a place of love, loyalty, and investment in the well-being of the State of Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Cosgrove called for \u201ca new chapter of American Zionism, infused with a sense of our internal pluralism, whereby we avoid the reductive and destructive tactic of labeling people with whom we disagree either as self-hating Jews or colonialist oppressors.\u201d<\/p>\n He urged humility from American Jews who are removed from the realities of the Middle Eastern battlefield, and advocated both holding up the security of Israel, and empathy for Palestinian suffering.<\/p>\n \u201cAgainst those who stand outside our tent, we need to hold the line. For those who seek to dwell in our tent, we must expand it. We need to do both,\u201d he said, urging \u201can American Zionism that\u2019s capacious enough to hold multiple views at once.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani is a far-left anti-Israel activist who has identified as an anti-Zionist<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Mamdani\u2019s most recent Israel-related controversy, after a vitriolic protest<\/a> at a synagogue last month, he condemned<\/a> both the protesters and the synagogue for hosting an event that provided information to Jews seeking to move to Israel.<\/p>\n Mamdani appeared to claim that the synagogue, Park East, was violating international law by facilitating immigration to settlements. The group holding the event, Nefesh B\u2019nefesh, does not direct Jews to settlements, but provides some information to those wishing to do so.<\/p>\n Also at the American Zionist Movement assembly, President Isaac Herzog warned about Mamdani<\/a>, saying his statement about Park East Synagogue was \u201cutterly anti-constitutional because of the right to practice your religion.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Mamdani\u2019s comment \u201cworries me a lot. It should not have been in America,\u201d Herzog said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know America and we knew that there was antisemitism lurking around in various quarters, but it was never so apparent in public discourse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Herzog also called for building bridges within the Jewish community, and between Israel and the American Jewish community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the most fantastic stories from Jews all over the world and a true lack of understanding from the two main Jewish communities in the world as to the stories of each other,\u201d he said. \u201cListen to the other colors in the rainbow. Understand that they\u2019re part and parcel of the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n During the closing weeks of the New York City mayoral election race, Cosgrove waded into politics with a warning about Mamdani<\/a>, saying that the candidate posed \u201ca danger to the security of the New York Jewish community\u201d in a Shabbat sermon.<\/p>\n Cosgrove cited Mamdani\u2019s refusal to condemn the slogan \u201cGlobalize the intifada,\u201d his refusal to acknowledge Israel\u2019s right to exist as a Jewish state, his vows to arrest Netanyahu, and his repeated accusations of genocide against Israel. Mamdani initially welcomed the intifada slogan, and later said he would discourage its use.<\/p>\n While exit polls released immediately after the race found that around one-third of Jews voted for Mamdani, a poll<\/a> released last week of \u201cconnected\u201d American Jews found that a majority believe that Mamdani will make the city\u2019s Jews less safe and that they believe Mamdani is antisemitic.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25325767184245-e1764826651530.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tNew York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani listens as US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, November 21, 2025. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251119_untitled_04520.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tAnti-Zionist protesters outside a New York City synagogue, November 19, 2025. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n