More Than 700 Rabbis Demand Mamdani Apologize for Calling AIPAC ‘Monsters’
More than 700 rabbis from across the United States and from different denominations have signed an open letter demanding that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani apologize publicly for attacking AIPAC. The letter, published Friday, says Mamdani called the pro-Israel lobby’s members “monsters” and accused them of spending “millions in dark money” to preserve their power and stir division. The rabbis say he has refused to retract the remarks despite criticism, and they are now pressing him to clarify and apologize.
The backlash comes alongside a new survey from the majority-Jewish organization showing how worried New York’s Jewish voters are about rising antisemitism. According to the poll, 82% of Jewish voters in New York are concerned about the increase, and most link it to the normalization of anti-Zionism. The survey also found that most voters believe Mamdani’s refusal to condemn calls to “globalize the intifada” encouraged Hamas-supporting protesters.
The letter was released shortly after Democratic Socialist candidates backed by Mamdani won New York primaries, and the rabbis argue that those candidates used similar anti-Israel rhetoric to win support. The dispute centers on a speech Mamdani delivered last week during celebrations for the Knicks’ championship, where he launched an unusually sharp attack on AIPAC and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In that speech, Mamdani said AIPAC was “a monster of the modern era” and claimed it feared little more than a functioning democracy and an end to what he described as Netanyahu’s war crimes. He also said the group was moving “millions of dark money” to keep its power and turn people against one another. The rabbis say his words, coming days after five people were charged with plotting to kill officials backed by AIPAC and on the same day a Florida man was indicted for planning a mass shooting at the group’s offices, placed “a target on the backs of American Jews.”
Major Jewish organizations quickly joined the condemnation. ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt said Mamdani was spreading conspiracy theories more typical of extremists or white supremacists than of a mayor in a city facing high levels of antisemitism. American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch said calling people monsters was not political argument, but a denial of their humanity. The signatories say normalizing language that depicts Zionists as monsters will encourage more candidates to adopt similar rhetoric and endanger Jewish communities.
