Mamdani’s synagogue statement raises red flags

Good Friday morning.

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we break down the Democratic primary fields taking shape across New York City following New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s win earlier this month, and report on Mamdani’s suggestion that a New York synagogue event for Nefesh B’Nefesh promoted violating international law. We have the scoop on a new PAC being launched by Democratic lawmakers to fight antisemitism within the party, and remember Democratic Majority for Israel founder Mark Mellman, who died this week. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Caroline Glick, Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla and Justin Ishbia.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve with an assist from Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.

What We’re Watching

President Donald Trump will meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at 3 p.m. ET today at the White House.
The three-day Halifax International Security Forum kicks off today in Nova Scotia, Canada. Speakers at the annual security confab this year include Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Hoeven (R-ND), Angus King (I-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND); former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft; Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, the chair of Israel’s civil commission investigating crimes against women and children on Oct. 7; former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Reichman University Institute for Policy and Strategy Executive Director Amos Gilead; Garry Kasparov; the McCain Institute’s Evelyn Farkas; HIAS President Mark Hetfield; former Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA); the American Enterprise Institute’s Heather Conley; and the National Democracy Institute’s Tamara Cofman Wittes.
In New York on Sunday, the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education is honoring the Department of Justice’s Harmeet Dhillon at its 85th Annual Awards Dinner.

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL

As next year’s midterm elections approach, New York City is quickly emerging as an epicenter of Democratic conflict, with a growing number of left-wing primary challengers targeting pro-Israel congressional incumbents as well as an expanding roster of candidates vying for an open House seat that is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the country.

In races spanning the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, new challengers are eyeing primaries to take on the moderate wing of the Democratic Party, which now finds itself on defense after Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory elevated a staunch democratic socialist and antagonist of Israel to executive office.

But even as challengers seek to capitalize on the momentum fueled by Mamdani’s rise, it remains to be seen if the mayor-elect will choose to weigh in on the upcoming primaries as he manages a diverse coalition to help advance his affordability agenda, which he has indicated is his top priority.

While Mamdani has publicly discouraged one fellow democratic socialist in Brooklyn from a brewing campaign to challenge House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who endorsed Mamdani in the final weeks of the election, “the big unknown is the role that Mamdani is going to play” in the June primary elections, Chris Coffey, a Democratic strategist, told Jewish Insider.

It also is unclear whether pro-Israel groups such as AIPAC and Democratic Majority for Israel will engage in the upcoming primaries. A spokesperson for AIPAC declined to comment. DMFI’s political arm, for its part, is closely monitoring the emerging races and regards the challengers with varying degrees of concern, a person familiar with the group’s internal deliberations told JI.

The activist left, meanwhile, is also confronting its own organizational issues, including the prospect of some split primary fields that threaten to divide the opposing vote, as well as messaging struggles.

With Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) announcing on Thursday that she will not seek reelection, a crop of candidates is also sure to engage in a spirited competition for her deeply progressive district in Brooklyn and Queens.

Here’s a rundown of the races to watch in New York City as the primary cycle continues to take shape.

MANHATTAN MELEE

Mamdani: Nefesh B’Nefesh event at New York synagogue promotes ‘violation of international law’

Anti-Israel demonstrators gather at ‘No Settlers on Stolen Land’ protest against a Nefesh b’Nefesh event at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan (Selçuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, distanced himself from a widely criticized demonstration outside a prominent synagogue in Manhattan on Wednesday night, where anti-Israel protesters were heard chanting “Death to the IDF” and “Globalize the intifada,” among other slogans, even as he suggested that the event, which provided information on immigrating to Israel, violated international law, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.

Condemnation with a caveat: “The mayor-elect has discouraged the language used at last night’s protest and will continue to do so,” a spokesperson for Mamdani, Dora Pekec, said in a statement to JI on Thursday. “He believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.” The protest, organized by an anti-Zionist group, took place outside Park East Synagogue, a historic Modern Orthodox congregation, at which an event was being held by Nefesh B’Nefesh, a nonprofit that assists in Jewish immigration to Israel from North America. Asked to clarify the concluding caveat from Pekec’s statement, Mamdani’s team said it “was specifically in reference to the organization’s promotion of settlement activity beyond the Green Line,” which “violates international law.”

Read the full story here.

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SCOOP

Dem lawmakers launch PAC to fight antisemitism within the party

Reps. Laura Friedman (D-CA), Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Ted Lieu (D-CA)(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A group of Democratic lawmakers is launching a political action committee to support candidates who have prioritized tackling antisemitism, alongside standing up against other forms of hate. Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Laura Friedman (D-CA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) will be chairing the committee, called the Alliance Against Antisemitism PAC. The PAC filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission in October, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

PAC’s purpose: “We want to celebrate and lift up those leaders who are unapologetically going to fight back against hate in all of its forms, including antisemitism. Sometimes antisemitism gets lost,” Landsman told JI on Thursday. “This is our effort to root it out on our side, and I think it’s going to have an enormous impact.” The idea of a PAC focused solely on a candidate’s stance on antisemitism is new, and a contrast from political action committees devoted to advancing pro-Israel candidates.

Read the full story here.