Words have consequences. Especially in New York. More than 700 rabbis are now demanding an apology from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after he labeled the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) “monsters.” The clergy claim his rhetoric paints a target on the backs of Jewish Americans.
It started at a June rally. Mamdani accused AIPAC of using “millions in dark money” to keep power and divide people. The backlash was instant. A massive coalition of rabbis—representing a wide spectrum of political and theological views on Israel—penned a scathing letter. They called his words “beneath the office.”
Antisemitism is spiking. The rabbis pointed this out, noting that Mamdani governs the largest Jewish municipal population outside of Israel. To them, casting pro-Israel advocacy as a shadowy, monstrous conspiracy isn’t just political theater. It is dangerous.
Mamdani isn’t backing down. Not yet. When pressed, he claimed he was merely quoting Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci. He argued his “monsters” label applied to all super PACs blocking progress, not just AIPAC. He pointed to the bloody status quo in Gaza. Children are dying daily, he argued, and AIPAC defends that reality.
His critics aren’t buying the philosophical defense. New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer took to social media, calling the mayor’s remarks “dangerous bulls—” and accusing him of laundering classic antisemitic tropes. Anti-Defamation League chief Jonathan Greenblatt was equally blunt. He compared the mayor’s language to the toxic conspiracy theories of white supremacists.
Mamdani’s team tried to play defense. They highlighted a $26 million annual city investment aimed at curbing hate crimes. They insisted the mayor wants Jewish New Yorkers to feel safe. But the rabbis want a retraction. They argue that while policy debates are fair game, demonizing millions of Zionist Jews as politically illegitimate crosses a line. The tension keeps building.
