EXCLUSIVE: Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch urged Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to clearly denounce the phrase “globalize the intifada” after the horrific antisemitic attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Sydney. The rabbi warned that evasive language and tolerance for rhetoric that calls for Israel’s destruction fuels violence here at home, and he pressed for straightforward moral leadership from New York’s incoming mayor. This piece follows those concerns, the mayor-elect’s recent outreach to Jewish leaders, and the broader debate over where criticism of Israel ends and dangerous anti-Zionist rhetoric begins.
American Jews are rattled after two gunmen killed 15 people and wounded dozens at a Hanukkah event in Sydney, and that fear has sharpened calls for firm political clarity. Rabbi Hirsch told reporters that in a time of rising global antisemitism every leading voice should speak plainly, not hedge. From a Republican perspective, political leaders must protect citizens by naming threats and rejecting language that inspires violence.
“What does ‘globalize the intifada’ mean? It means Bondi Beach,” Hirsch said, pushing for swift condemnation of the phrase he calls a “call to mass genocide.” He argues that when leaders tolerate or minimize such slogans, they invite escalation rather than deter it. The rabbi demanded that “every responsible political and moral authority” make a public stand against words that translate into real-world attacks.
“He should condemn it. It’s not simply a question of [whether] he doesn’t encourage its use,” Hirsch emphasized, rejecting the idea that policing language is off limits for public officials. He drew a clear line between legitimate criticism of Israeli policy and outright advocacy for Israel’s destruction. “I want to make a distinction. That is different from saying, ‘I believe that the Palestinians deserve a state, and this state should live side-by-side in peace with Israel.’ That’s not what the ‘globalize the intifada’ group mean. They mean ‘destroy Israel,’ and that has to be condemned by every responsible political and moral authority,” Hirsch said.
Hirsch was careful to note that disagreeing with Israeli leaders is not inherently antisemitic, yet he warned that anti-Zionist rhetoric has consequences that go beyond policy debate. “But that’s not Zoran Mamdani’s approach, and it’s not the approach of his allies,” he said, pointing to the mayor-elect’s long record of pro-Palestinian activism. From a conservative standpoint, the problem is not disagreement itself but when that disagreement morphs into delegitimization and hostility toward an entire community.
Mamdani’s background in campus activism and support for movements like BDS have made Jewish leaders uneasy about how his words might be interpreted in a city already tense with division. As an assemblyman he backed measures that critics say targeted Israeli settlement activity, and during the campaign he resisted a flat, unequivocal denunciation of the “globalize the intifada” slogan. That reluctance, Hirsch argues, matters more than gestures of outreach because rhetoric shapes what happens on the street.
Hirsch warned that when anti-Zionist sentiment becomes common public speech, the result is a more hostile environment for Jews that even heavy security cannot fully offset. “Therefore, even if you put 20 cops outside a Jewish institution, it will still be more dangerous for Jewish life because the environment will be much more hostile,” he said, describing how growing hostility changes the city for everyone. He urged leaders to consider how tolerant attitudes toward hateful rhetoric can erode the shared civic fabric and make neighborhoods less safe and less welcoming.
The rabbi acknowledged Mamdani’s willingness to meet with Jewish leaders and called that constructive, but he insisted that actions and language must follow. “My primary concern, and what I would love to be able to impress on the mayor-elect, is even if you don’t wake up tomorrow, and you’ve been convinced, and you become a Zionist, understand that rhetoric leads to action, words lead to deeds, and anti-Zionism is a hateful ideology, and it leads to hateful acts against Jews, no matter how many cops you put outside Jewish institutions. That’s the key thing,” Hirsch said, urging a responsible approach from City Hall.
“He made an effort to come out and reach out to people and not only us, but other members of the Jewish community, and I think that is constructive, and that’s to be welcomed,” Hirsch added about the meeting with the mayor-elect, but he left the rest plainly on Mamdani’s shoulders. “It’s your choice,” he said directly to the incoming mayor, calling on him to avoid policies and rhetoric that could inflame tensions. The stakes are high for New Yorkers of all backgrounds; if hostility toward Jews grows, the whole city becomes less safe and less free.
“The attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney today was a vile act of antisemitic terror. I mourn those who were murdered and will be keeping their families, the Jewish community, and the Chabad movement in my prayers,” Mamdani
“When I am Mayor, I will work every day to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe—on our streets, our subways, at shul, in every moment of every day. Let this be a purpose shared by every New Yorker, and let us banish this horrific violence to the past,” the mayor-elect added.
https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/2000227476237173059?s=20
