Mamdani’s criticism of Israel and support for Palestinians attracted voters, new poll shows
Among voters who supported Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic mayoral primary, 62% said his support for Palestinian rights swayed their decision
Democratic nominee for NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani on July 15. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh July 29, 2025
A new poll from a progressive research group that accurately predicted Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral primary victory found that his criticism of Israel resonated with an overwhelming majority of Democratic voters and may have helped mobilize a wave of first-time and younger supporters.
According to the post-primary survey of 531 voters conducted by Data for Progress, 78% of respondents agreed with Mamdani’s belief that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, 79% support restricting weapons to Israel and 63% back his pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City, in compliance with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant.
Mamdani, who is Muslim, has a long history of criticizing Israel, including his support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which some in the pro-Israel community see as an assault on the legitimacy of the Jewish state’s existence. This position drew heightened attention to the Democratic primary. Mamdani came under fire for his refusal to recognize Israel specifically as a “Jewish state,” for hedging on a call to condemn the “globalize the Intifada” slogan, and for declining to co-sponsor resolutions recognizing Israel’s independence.
Mamdani was chosen as the nominee by 56% of voters in the Democratic mayoral primary’s ranked-choice system. Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor and Mamdani’s chief rival, suggested last week that for many younger and progressive voters, Mamdani’s anti-Israel activism may have been an asset rather than a vulnerability.
The poll, conducted for the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project via text-to-web from July 11 to 17, showed that these stances indeed influenced support for Mamdani. Among his voters, 62% said his support for Palestinian rights swayed their decision, and 46% said the same about his willingness to criticize the Israeli government. The survey has a reported margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Some commentators described Mamdani’s election as a broader political realignment, which has led to concern among some Democrats about it opening the door to strident criticism of Israel, once seen as a political risk. In recent weeks, New York elected officials who once avoided public criticism of Israeli policy harshly criticized the country’s leadership amid the worsening starvation crisis in Gaza.
Margaret DeReus, executive director of the IMEU Policy Project, said Mamdani’s rise and positions are a “wake-up call” for New York politicians. “Any Democrat who stands with AIPAC instead of their own voters is running the real risk of getting voted out of office,” she said.
The poll showed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, often criticized for targeting critics of the Jewish state, has an unfavorable rating of 50%, with only 15% viewing it positively. It also found that just 16% of Democratic primary voters, and 12% of adults under the age of 45, sympathize more with Israelis in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That matched recent national polls that show Democratic voters are increasingly sympathetic to Palestinians. And it aligns with a new Gallup poll that shows 60% of Americans surveyed now disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza and only 32% approve, a new low.
Democratic nominees for mayor typically win in November, with about two-thirds of New York voters registered as Democrats — but Mamdani could still face a serious challenge. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Cuomo, who lost the primary to Mamdani by 12 points, are both running as independents.
Mamdani, in his victory speech, extended an olive branch to Jewish voters wary of him. “There are millions of New Yorkers who have strong feelings about what happens overseas. Yes, I am one of them,” he said. “And while I will not abandon my beliefs or my commitments, grounded in a demand for equality, for humanity, you have my word to reach further, to understand the perspectives of those with whom I disagree, and to wrestle deeply with those disagreements.”
