Most Jewish groups reject Mamdani invitation to Jewish heritage event

Jewish Community Relations Council CEO Mark Treyger described the situation as “really telling and concerning.”

By World Israel News Staff

Major Jewish organizations are boycotting a Jewish heritage event scheduled for later this month hosted by the mayor’s office, saying they will not attend because it would whitewash Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s repeated attacks on Israel, which they argue are contributing to rising hostility and violence targeting Jews in the city.

“We will not be attending the Jewish American Heritage Month celebration at Gracie Mansion being hosted by a mayor who denies a core pillar of our heritage — the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people,” the UJA-Federation of New York said in a press statement.

Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council, who is also skipping the event, told the New York Post that the absence of major local Jewish groups sends a clear message about their concerns regarding Mamdani.

“It’s a really telling and concerning sign of where things stand in New York City right now,” Treyger said.

He referenced Mamdani’s decision to issue a statement condemning Israel and expressing support for Palestinians in an Instagram post published just hours before the start of Shabbat.

“The mayor issued a social media production that omitted significant parts of history. It only inflamed tensions further,” Treyger said.

Critics argued that Mamdani’s post demonized Israel and came amid a sharp increase in violent antisemitic assaults against Jewish residents across New York City.

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said he also could not attend the event because of Mamdani’s repeated and intense anti-Israel rhetoric.

“Jewish heritage should include recognition of the State of Israel,” Potasnik told the Post.

“Jewish history didn’t end in 1946,” when the Holocaust ended, Potasnik added. “We will be marching in the Israel Day Parade to express our support for Israel.”

But not all Jewish leaders in New York are planning to boycott the event.

Rabbi David Niederman, head of the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg, issued a public statement confirming his attendance.

“I am going. It’s right and appropriate,” Niederman said.

Notably, Niederman is a member of the Satmar Hasidic community, which traditionally holds an anti-Zionist position and rejects the existence of the Jewish state.