Overview
- On June 18 Mayor Zohran Mamdani told a Brooklyn rally that AIPAC was among “the monsters” he opposes, and he later said he was quoting Antonio Gramsci and criticizing super PAC spending more broadly.
- An open letter published June 26 and organized by the Jewish Majority drew signatures from more than 700 rabbis and cantors demanding Mamdani apologize, retract the remark, and affirm that Jews and pro‑Israel Americans are full participants in democracy.
- Major Jewish organizations and politicians, including the Anti‑Defamation League and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, publicly condemned the wording as dangerous and warned it echoes long‑standing conspiratorial tropes about Jewish power.
- The dispute is tied to intra‑party fights in New York after several Mamdani‑backed, DSA‑aligned candidates won recent primaries and follows his record of harsh criticism of Israeli policy and support for BDS.
- Signers and commentators point to a rise in antisemitic incidents and recent arrests alleging plots targeting AIPAC supporters as reasons the rhetoric matters for public safety, and the immediate fallout to monitor is whether Mamdani issues a retraction and whether city security or political alliances change.