I'm a Zionist Jew from New York; I had to vote Mamdani

The decision was deeply difficult and took me weeks of reflection. As a lifelong Zionist and New Yorker, I struggled to identify the best candidate to guide our city through challenging times.

A conversation with a respected family friend, an Israeli who has lived in New York for 25 years, helped clarify my choice. He expressed strong distrust of Andrew Cuomo, describing him as arrogant, too old, and a womanizer:

“I'd vote for Bibi, who you know I despise, before I'd vote for Cuomo.”

He also explained that many Israelis, who warned me that Mamdani was antisemitic and would harm Jews in America, lacked the proper context to understand this mayoral race. Similarly, Israelis criticize Americans for not fully grasping the Palestinian cause.

Americans supporting Palestinians often misunderstand the phrase "From the river to the Sea" as they have never visited Israel or faced the reality of the country's tight borders and constant attacks. They fail to see how Hamas has deliberately embedded fighters and weapons within hospitals, schools, and mosques for decades, risking their own civilians.

Moreover, the Netanyahu government underestimated the scale of the Hamas attack on October 7.

Author's summary

The author shares a complex perspective on voting, shaped by personal Zionist beliefs and nuanced insights into Israeli-American views on the mayoral race and Middle Eastern conflicts.