Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Andrew Cuomo criticizes Israel — or does he?

As Cuomo tries to beat Zohran Mamdani, his rhetoric on Israel is shifting

🇮🇱 Cuomo wobbles on Israel

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, now running for mayor of New York City, gave two different comments on Israel in interviews on Tuesday.

  • Speaking with Bloomberg News, Cuomo said, “Do I support what the Israel government is doing vis-à-vis Gaza? No. Do I support Israel impeding humanitarian aid? No.” Bloomberg called the statement a “shift” for the staunchly pro-Israel mayoral candidate.
  • But hours later, Cuomo distanced himself from those comments in an interview with The New York Times, attributing them to the views of other New Yorkers. “I was airing what some people feel,” he said. “You have some people who feel that Israel is not acting appropriately. That’s their opinion.”
  • Cuomo called for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, but said there was “propaganda and misinformation” about who to blame for the lack of aid. He also attacked Zohran Mamdani, saying, “I believe Zohran is pro-Hamas.”
  • Cuomo’s primary loss to Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, drew national attention to changing sentiment about Israel among Democratic voters. A growing number of Democrats, responding to both public sentiment and reports of starvation amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, have begun expressing public criticism of the Israeli government and war effort.

🙏 Adams counts his blessings

  • Mayor Eric Adams met rabbis and dozens of other faith leaders on Tuesday in what he called the “largest citywide religious endorsement ceremony in New York history.” The claim is hard to verify.
  • Shofars were blown to open the media event, followed by a prayer from Bishop Chantel Wright that compared Adams to Moses, according to The New York Times. (He has previously compared himself to a “modern-day Maccabee,” as well.)
  • Rabbi Michael Landau said the mayor represented “the very pinnacle of integrity, decency, honesty, wisdom and intelligence,” along with “moral clarity” on Israel, which Adams has defended during its war in Gaza. Other rabbis present, according to an Instagram post from the Adams campaign, were Shlomo Nisanov and Yossi Garelik. (Adams has drawn criticis

📋 Mamdani spurs sign-ups 

  • After Mamdani’s primary win, more than 10,000 people signed up for Run for Something, an organization that recruits and supports young progressives who want to run for office.
  • “That’s the biggest organic surge of candidate recruitment we’ve ever seen,” co-founder Amanda Litman said in an interview with Intelligencer. Litman, who is Jewish, said the “genocide” in Gaza was one of many factors that alienated progressives from mainstream Democratic leaders.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org as The Countdown, a daily newsletter rounding up all the latest developments in the New York City mayor’s race.

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.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.