Josh Shapiro Says Zohran Mamdani Fails to Condemn ‘Blatantly Antisemitic’ Rhetoric

Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania has accused Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, of failing to condemn “blatantly antisemitic” rhetoric by “extremists,” wading into a party-wide debate over the Democratic nominee and his views on Israel.

During the primary, Mr. Mamdani refused to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” though he has more recently appeared to soften his defense of the phrase. Palestinians and their supporters have called the phrase a rallying cry for liberation, but many Jews consider it a call to violence, a direct reference to deadly attacks on civilians in Israel by Palestinians in uprisings in the 1980s and 2000s.

The critique from Mr. Shapiro, one of the country’s most prominent Jewish elected officials, underscored how deeply Mr. Mamdani’s victory has shaken Democratic leaders, who have yet to unite behind Mr. Mamdani’s campaign.

“He seemed to run a campaign that excited New Yorkers. He also seemed to run a campaign where he left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things,” Mr. Shapiro told Jewish Insider in an interview the news outlet published on Wednesday.

Mr. Mamdani’s vocal support for Palestinian rights, a cause he has described as foundational to his political activism, has forced Democrats into a high-profile debate over whether outspoken opposition to Israel and its government — and even questioning its existence as a Jewish state — is a position that should be embraced by the party.

He has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide,” and, when pressed, has not said if Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, instead endorsing equal rights for all religious and ethnic groups there.

Since winning the nomination, Mr. Mamdani has moved to distance himself from comments that sparked outrage, telling an influential group of business leaders in a private meeting that he would not use the phrase “globalize the intifada” slogan and would “discourage” others from doing so.

In the interview, Mr. Shapiro suggested that more was needed.

“I’ll say this about Mamdani or any other leader,” Mr. Shapiro said. “If you want to lead New York, you want to lead Pennsylvania, you want to lead the United States of America, you’re a leader. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democratic leader or a democratic socialist leader. You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can’t leave room for that to just sit there. You’ve got to condemn that.”

Mr. Shapiro, who has made his religious observance part of his public profile, has repeatedly been thrust into the debate over antisemitism and faltering support for Israel within his party. A top contender to join former Vice President Kamala Harris on the presidential ticket last year, his support for Israel became the subject of intense scrutiny during the vice-presidential search process. After being passed over, Mr. Shapiro delivered a fiery speech reaffirming his commitment to his faith as a driver of his public service.

In April, a man who police say was motivated by opposition to Israel set the governor’s mansion on fire while Mr. Shapiro and his family slept inside. Mr. Shapiro has repeatedly declined to label the attack a hate crime, saying it would hamper the work of prosecutors.

Mr. Mamdani’s nomination has divided the Jewish community, both in New York — the city with the world’s largest Jewish population — and across the country.

Mr. Mamdani won support from many Jewish New Yorkers, including Brad Lander, the city comptroller, who cross-endorsed him in the primary, but for many other Jews, his victory confirmed their worst fears about the direction of the American left and fueled a sense that urgent concerns about the community’s safety were being dismissed.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Mr. Mamdani defeated in the Democratic primary, described his views as extreme, and Republicans seized on his ardent criticism of Israel to cast Mr. Mamdani and the entire Democratic Party as “proudly antisemitic” — a charge he has forcefully rejected.

For decades, Jews have been a bedrock part of the Democratic coalition as well as ardently pro-Israel. But views on Israel are shifting within the party. Nearly seven in 10 Democrats now express an unfavorable view of Israel, compared with 37 percent of Republicans, according to polling released by Pew Research Center this spring.

Mr. Shapiro himself has been outspoken in criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the right-wing government he leads.

“There are policies of the Netanyahu government that I don’t support,” he told Jewish Insider. “I’ve been very vocal about that. But there’s a difference between not supporting the policies of whoever’s in charge at a particular time, and the underlying notion of a Jewish state of Israel. I do think it is important to strengthen people’s understanding of Israel and the relationship America should have with Israel and to strengthen that bond.”