Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is facing fierce backlash after a resurfaced video showed him making a shocking, conspiracy-laden comparison between the New York Police Department and the Israeli military.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani declared during the 2023 Democratic Socialists of America national convention, where he was the keynote speaker — an event that also featured panels condemning capitalism and promoting “socialist internationalism.”

The footage, uncovered Tuesday, captures Mamdani connecting local law enforcement to what he described as “capitalist interests abroad,” arguing that police actions in New York were somehow linked to Israeli military tactics. “We have to make clear the ways in which that struggle over there is tied to capitalist interests over here,” he said. “We have to make it materially connected to their lives.”

The statement has drawn condemnation from law enforcement groups, Jewish leaders, and even members of his own party who say Mamdani’s words cross a line from activism into dangerous demagoguery.

Mamdani, now the Democratic nominee for mayor, has tried to reinvent himself as a pragmatic reformer. But the resurfaced video undermines that image, reminding voters of a long history of hostility toward the NYPD and inflammatory rhetoric about Israel.

In 2020, Mamdani called the department “racist… and a major threat to public safety” while urging New Yorkers to defund the police. As an assemblyman, he marched alongside groups calling for slashing NYPD funding and frequently attacked the city’s public safety priorities.

Now, with City Hall within reach, Mamdani is attempting a political makeover — pledging to keep Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, praising the department’s “dedication,” and claiming he has “evolved.”

Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, the city’s longest-serving police leader, blasted Mamdani’s comments as “reckless and insulting.” On Monday, Kelly formally endorsed former Governor Andrew Cuomo for mayor, citing Mamdani’s “anti-police extremism” as disqualifying.

“This is not leadership — it’s pandering to radicals at the expense of those who keep this city safe,” Kelly said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)