Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

The weeks leading up to terror-supporting, Jew-hating communist Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory last night were like watching a slow-moving car crash. There were valiant efforts to stop this disaster – such as a letter signed by almost 1,200 rabbis from all streams and endorsed by another almost 3,000 Jews, denouncing Mamdani’s refusal to condemn slogans calling for violence against Jews (“Globalize the Intifada”). The thousands of letter-signers also condemned Mamdani’s denial of Israel’s legitimacy, scurrilous false accusations that Israel was committing genocide, delegitimization of the Jewish community, and encouragement of hostility toward Judaism and Jews. “Get Out the Vote” efforts tried to avert the crash.

But it was not enough.

It has been less than a quarter century since Islamic terrorists murdered thousands of our friends, brothers, and sisters in the heart of New York on 9/11 while screaming “Allahu Akhbar.” And it has been only eight years since an unrepentant Islamic terrorist murdered eight, and injured over a dozen, innocent New York tourists and citizens on a West Side bike path. And just a year since officials foiled a Pakistani Muslim terrorist’s plans to perpetrate a mass shooting attack on Jews praying at a Brooklyn synagogue. We could go on and on about the terrors New Yorkers – and especially Jewish New Yorkers – have been facing in recent years.  

So who would have believed that 50.4% of the same city would now vote for a rabid anti-Israel instigator? Especially after Mamdani vowed to disband the NYPD Strategic Response Group, which handles riots and counter-terrorism (thereby enabling anti-Jewish and other terror and riots to run rampant); has already called for a boycott of New York City’s Cornell Tech to punish Cornell and its New York employees for partnering with Israel’s prestigious Technion Institute; and promoted a bill to strip pro-Israel charities of their tax status. (See “How a Mayor Mamdani’s Israel-hate would twist the entire city,” by New York Post Editorial Board, Oct. 16, 2025.)

But the demographics of New York City have changed. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have surged into New York City, many of whom are from countries where Jew-hatred is pervasive, in the wake of former Presidents Obama and Biden opening America’s borders. Muslim adults have expanded to approximately 11% of New York City’s adult population. A coalition of antisemitic Israel-hating Muslim organizations, including CAIR (whose leader said he was happy to see Gazans invade Israel on October 7, and that Israel has no right to self-defense), joined together to form a coalition to maximize Muslim voting turnout in New York. Meanwhile, large numbers of conservative New Yorkers have been leaving the city, and tragically, 31% of New York’s Jews voted for Mamdani. These changes helped enable a communist Jew-hater to win.  

ZOA is nonetheless resolutely determined to fight against Mamdani’s planned anti-Jewish and anti-Israel policies and actions at every turn. 

ZOA, moreover, asks every Jewish organization to join with us in a unified front to oppose anti-Israel, antisemitic policies during what will be a very difficult four years for New York and New York’s Jewish community. As Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” Globalize the War Against Jew-Hatred! And Globalize Zionism!