Ep. 179: Mamdani’s win is a warning sign of peril for Jews

Being someone who opposes Israel’s existence and favors legitimizing terrorism and antisemitism now means never having to say you’re sorry in New York City. That’s the conclusion JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin drew from the victory of Socialist Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City. According to Tobin, Israel’s enemies in the Middle East have suffered devastating defeats. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior analyst and JNS columnist Ben Cohen who believes Mamdani’s win must be seen in the context of an “eye-watering escalation of hate crimes against Jews” in New York since Oct. 7, 2023. Cohen also sees this as an example of how the antisemitism of the elites and the rougher version of Jew-hatred that happens on the streets has merged in the form of the pro-Hamas mobs chanting to “globalize the intifada” that Mamdani supports.