Queens deputy borough president steps down after tweets about Israel, Ilhan Omar

A hand holds a smartphone with the Twitter logo Image by Getty/Chesnot/Contributor
A top Queens official named to his post withdrew Monday after tweets surfaced in which he criticized Israeli policies and lobbying.
Michael Hurwitz, who is Jewish, was tapped as a deputy borough president for Donovan Richards, but Richards’ office tweeted that “for professional and personal reasons,” he would not take his position.
For professional and personal reasons, Michael Hurwitz will not be moving forward at this time with the Queens Borough President’s Office as Deputy Borough President as originally announced. (6/6)
— Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (@QnsBPRichards) January 5, 2021
Hurwitz’s account is now private, but the Queens Daily Eagle reported that among Hurwitz’s tweets was one that defended Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, saying she “speaks the truth” and that AIPAC, the Israeli advocacy group, “influences votes” in Congress.
In another, Hurwitz called Israeli politician Naftali Bennett a “cancer to Judaism.”
Hurwitz told the Eagle that he is a “proud Jew” and a “lifelong Zionist,” and that trying to fit his views into 250 characters was “naive.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Naftali Bennett is back: Former Israeli prime minister will make another run at Netanyahu
-
Fast Forward Citing post-Holocaust doctrine, Germany seeks to deport 4 pro-Palestinian protesters, including one American
-
Fast Forward Trump administration freezes research funding to Princeton amid antisemitism investigations
-
Fast Forward ‘Another Jewish warrior’: Fine wins special election for U.S. House seat
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.