Recently, there has been discussion among some Jews that since Zohran Mamdani is a frontrunner for the mayoral election, perhaps we should work with him. Some feel that he won’t be so bad and that his extreme views and rhetoric against Israel will not impact New York Jews.

Is there a historical precedent that can predict where Mamdani’s election may lead? The answer is yes – in the city of Vienna.

Vienna of 1900 and New York City in 2025 share several similarities. Both Vienna’s population then and New York’s now is approximately 10% Jewish, both with thriving frum populations. In 1900, Jews had lived in Vienna for generations, just as they do in New York City today. In Vienna, Jews had achieved significant roles in finance and politics, as they do in New York today.

Yet, all it took was one mayor to change things completely for Vienna’s Jews.

Karl Lueger, a vicious antisemite, was elected mayor of Vienna five times, serving from 1897 to 1910. His antisemitic views were so extreme that the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph refused to support him. Ultimately, after Lueger’s fifth reelection, the Emperor conceded and offered his support.
With Lueger in power, it became socially acceptable to be an antisemite. He would give speeches, blaming the Jews for Vienna’s financial problems, rousing crowds with his antisemitic fervor. He normalized antisemitism and successfully poisoned the minds of Vienna’s population against the Jews, which explains why Austria has one of the lowest rates of gentiles protecting Jews during the Holocaust.

Adolf Hitler, y” sh, credited Lueger as someone who helped shape his views on Jews, and he wrote in Mein Kampf that he became an antisemite in Vienna.

Lueger was not Hitler. But he created an environment in Vienna where antisemitism was socially acceptable, and violence against Jews was the inevitable outcome.

What does this have to do with Mamdani?

Zohran Mamdani is heading in the same direction. His anti-Israel statements will affect New York Jews by poisoning the well of public opinion against Jews through his criticism of Israel and its supporters. He openly supports Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical New York-based pro-Palestinian organization, which openly equates Jews in New York and Jews in Israel.

On WOL’s website, they recommend chants at protests like “Occupation is a crime, From New York to Palestine!” Or “From New York to Gaza, Globalize the Intifada!” These statements can reasonably be interpreted as a call to violence against Jews in New York.

WOL also posted maps online revealing locations of Jewish organizations in New York, stating “they have blood on their hands,” by their natural association with the “genocidal” Israel. This is a direct threat to New York Jews. Yet Mamdani continues to support them.

During his college years, Mamdani co-founded a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). This organization is infamous for its intimidation of Jewish students, and it is so damaging that it faces bans on multiple campuses. Yet Mamdani continues to support them.

Antisemites don’t differentiate between anti-Zionist and Zionist Jews, chareidi or secular. We have already seen this in Manchester, Melbourne, Montreal, and London. Once antisemites are attacking, all Jews are the same to them.

Ultimately, our yeshua comes from Hashem. Yet, recognizing the danger that Mamdani and his views pose to all New York Jews, as a community, we must not legitimize him nor discount his views. We need to do everything in our power to stop him from becoming mayor – including davening, voting, and uniting against him.

Rabbi Menachem Levine is the CEO of JDBY-YTT, the largest Jewish school in the Midwest. He served as Rav of Kehillas Am Echad in San Jose, CA, from 2007 to 2020. He is a popular speaker and writes for numerous publications on Torah, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Topics.

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