(RNS) — In a recent interview, a journalist asked me about what many see as Zohran Mamdani’s “Achilles heel” — his standing with Jewish New Yorkers.   

It’s no secret that Mamdani has been ferociously critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, calling Israel’s campaign there a genocide and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu a war criminal.  

No doubt, the young candidate lacks support among some Jewish leaders. Sara Forman, executive director of the New York Solidarity Network, said of Mamdani: “We disagree … with his values.” Orthodox Union Vice President Moshe Hauer issued a statement calling for Mamdani to “prioritize the safety and security of New Yorkers — including Jewish New Yorkers — over his strong feelings about what happens overseas.” Even the chairman of the New York Democratic Party, Jay Jacobs, declined to endorse Mamdani, citing disagreement with his stance on Israel.  

But drawing opposition to Mamdani along religious lines because of his faith identity or support for Palestinian human rights would miss an important and growing rift between the Democratic Party’s establishment and its base regarding support for the actions of the Jewish state.  

This includes some notable Jewish New Yorkers. U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, publicly endorsed Mamdani. Brad Lander, a Jewish elected official in New York City, did a “cross-endorsement” with Mamdani in the primary, in which the two candidates recommended each other in the ranked choice voting process. While no longer a New Yorker, Senator Bernie Sanders came to the city the last week of October to enthusiastically encourage New Yorkers to cast their vote for Mamdani at a Queens rally.  

These voices are not anomalies. In a July poll conducted by Zenith Research, in collaboration with Public Process Solutions, Mamdani had the support of the plurality of Jewish New York voters (43%), surpassing Andrew Cuomo by 17 percentage points. Among 18-44-year-old New York Jews, Mamdani dominates with a commanding 67% support, crushing Cuomo by 58 points.  

Moreover, according to a poll conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, which I co-authored, American Jews and American Muslims are equally likely to reject Trump policies designed to support Israel’s war in Gaza. These included proposals to displace Palestinians from Gaza and the deportation of students who participate in pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. college campuses.

Activists who advocate for an end to violence against Palestinians are often accused of antisemitism. Yet, according to the ISPU poll, the majority of American Jews oppose the deportation of non-citizen campus activists. That opposition is even more pronounced among Jewish Democrats. Instead, this policy finds its strongest support among white evangelical Christians. Anyone who was close to the campus protests saw that they were often bastions of interfaith cooperation, with Jewish students celebrating their Passover seder at the sit-ins, commemorating the freedom of one people as they called for the freedom of another. These acts of solidarity were anything but drivers of anti-Jewish bigotry.

The cooperation was so remarkable that videos of the events went viral. A relative of mine in Egypt, who had never met a Jewish person, sent me one, with the caption: “Look how principled the Jewish students are.” 

This solidarity isn’t surprising. Year after year, including in 2025, Jewish Americans are the religious group least likely to subscribe to Islamophobic stereotypes as measured by the National American Islamophobia Index, measured for the fifth time this year by ISPU. Among the general population in the U.S., Islamophobia Index scores jumped from 25 in 2022 to 33 in 2025. Among religious groups, this jump was most pronounced among white evangelicals (15 points) and Catholics (12 points). Jews had an Islamophobia score of 17 in 2022, the lowest of any group that year, which increased only slightly to 19 in 2025, on par with Muslims themselves (19). 

Mamdani is still a political candidate, and criticism of his policy platform is fair game. But those who seek to defeat him by pandering to prejudice only show us they don’t have better ideas or a better argument, just a worse opinion of New York City voters.

(Dalia Mogahed is scholar at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding in Washington. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)