As election day creeps closer in a mayoral race that New York Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani is heavily favored to win, critics to his left are voicing concerns over his flirtation with the political mainstream. Detractors have balked at Mamdani’s decision to apologize for his past criticisms of the New York Police Department, questioned whether he’s really a socialist prepared to take on corporate power, and mused that — maybe — he’s a closet Zionist. 

The critiques almost perfectly contradict the flack Mamdani has gotten from the political establishment to his right, long considered the biggest barrier in the Queens assembly member’s path to Gracie Mansion. His closest competitor, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, attacked Mamdani in a debate Thursday night on the grounds that he “won’t denounce ‘globalize the intifada,’” claiming the phrase meant “kill all Jews.” 

Mamdani has been hailed as a uniquely talented political communicator, but it’s his response to the invocation of that protest cry that has repeatedly drawn ire from his left and his right as he attempts to toe the line.

“I learned that this phrase evokes many painful memories,” Mamdani said Thursday night. “And in hearing that and the distance between that impact and the rationale that some use of saying it, of speaking about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, is why I said that I would discourage this language, language that I do not use.” 

After Mamdani made similar remarks to Al Sharpton on MSNBC last month, one user wrote on X that he had thrown the movement for Palestine “under the bus.” “Zohran is a zionist,” commented another. Some have said they’d rather see Cuomo win than Mamdani get elected and let them down. 

While Mamdani’s most outspoken critics on the left likely represent only a tiny share of the local voting base, they help illustrate the ongoing identity crisis within the Democratic Party, where a party establishment long beholden to Israel struggles to adjust to its supporters’ overwhelming opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

He has drawn ire over his reported remarks to a room of Jewish leaders in New York that he would not condition employment in his administration on a person’s stance on Zionism. A New York Times magazine profile characterized him as “not anti-Zionist.”

Still, the mayoral candidate has staked out a position far more critical of Israel than almost any Democratic politician with his level of prominence and — likely — success. When Cuomo slammed Mamdani Thursday night for invoking Israel’s occupation of Palestine, he responded that “the occupation is a reference to international law and the violation of it, which Mr. Cuomo has no regard for because he signed up to be Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal defense team during the course of this genocide.” (Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate in the race, chimed in with praise for President Donald Trump in brokering the recent ceasefire in Gaza, reminding the moderators: “It’s a debate of three, do we acknowledge that?”)

The concerns from the left are symptomatic of a movement that has grown understandably disillusioned with electoral politics. Some of the critics are likely worried that New Yorkers who turned out in droves to support Mamdani this summer have been hoodwinked by another Democrat voicing sympathy for the Palestinian cause when it’s politically convenient while trying at the same time to please his pro-Israel detractors. But they may also be urging him toward a political posture that baits his biggest critics in the mainstream.

“I believe it is a very small collection of very principled people on the internet combined with bots,” said a Democratic strategist in New York. While the strategist dismissed the significance of the criticism, they also requested anonymity in order to speak freely.

Mamdani could respond more forcefully to the criticisms from his right: by insisting on protesters’ rights — now increasingly under attack by the Trump administration — to use the phrase to call for Palestinian freedom. Had he done so, he would likely have invited another news cycle focused on his refusal to address a phrase he had never uttered, along with fears that some Jewish New Yorkers say they harbor about his potential election. He would have given New York Democratic leaders like Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries a tempting reason to further delay their support. 

Mamdani’s responses, though, have reinforced the frustrations of many pro-Palestine advocates on the left — that ceding ground on what constitutes acceptable speech on Palestine puts the entire campaign to end both Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and its genocide in Gaza at risk.

Mamdani’s path to success as mayor of New York City rests on far more than how people perceive his stance on Israel, and he has more to worry about than how he’s perceived online. He is being tested as a new standard bearer for the Democratic Party — earning the endorsements, while Schumer and Jeffries hold out, of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the de facto leader of the state party, and Attorney General Letitia James, a high-profile Trump foe now fighting an indictment by the federal Department of Justice.

The question of whether a rising star like Mamdani can effectively stake out a pro-Palestine stance while succeeding in mainstream electoral politics is high on many Democrats’ minds. A growing part of the party’s base is refusing to support candidates who cave to pro-Israel pressure campaigns. And a growing number of Democrats, including recipients of money from the country’s leading pro-Israel lobby, are calling on the U.S. to stop sending offensive weapons to Israel. 

If a candidate like Mamdani — who authored a bill to stop New York nonprofits from sending money to Israeli settlements; warned in 2023 that Israel was on the verge of committing genocide in Gaza; and is considered a generational political communicator able to galvanize scores of new voters — can’t land the message on Israel, can anyone? 

The post Zohran Mamdani Has Pushed the Liberal Consensus on Palestine. The Left Isn’t Satisfied. appeared first on The Intercept.

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