Mamdani: I Support Israel “As A State With Equal Rights,” A State “Shouldn’t Privilege One Religion”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, during an interview with ABC’s Jon Karl, aired Sunday on “This Week,” found this elegant solution to questions about whether he supports Israel: “I support the state of Israel as a state with equal rights,” he said. “I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else, and a lot of that comes back to a fundamental belief that we should all be considered equal, no matter what our faith is.”
JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: Obviously, Israel was a big issue in these races, not the only issue, but a big issue. Is there room in the Democratic Party for candidates, officials who support Israel, not just support Israel, but support military aid for Israel? This was a huge issue for you. ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Well, I think what we’ve seen is that the time for us as elected officials to pronounce what the party should be is one that should come to an end, and we should let Democratic voters themselves take the lead. We’ve seen on Tuesday evening, we saw Democrats turn out in districts across the city to make clear that they were tired of tens of billions of dollars being spent in our taxpayer dollars to violate international law, to kill thousands of civilians, and you and I know that right now the way that Palestine is described is as if there is a cease fire, that’s the language that’s typically used. More than a thousand Palestinians have been killed in that cease fire, and what New Yorkers want to see is a politics of conscience, a politics of clarity, a politics of conviction. And to follow international law, to believe in the humanity of all people, it shouldn’t be a journey too far. And I think that our party needs to hear what Democrats are telling them. KARL: Democratic Socialists of America now says they no longer favor a two-state solution. Is that the way you see it as well? The idea of two states, Palestinian and Jewish states, side by side, living in peace. MAMDANI: The way I see it is equal rights for all people, and I think that that’s the truth for Israel. It’s the truth for any country in the world. And frankly, as we’re coming up close to the 250th anniversary of our nation, one of the things that makes me proudest to be an American is the belief that equal rights are at the bedrock of our notion of what it means to be an American. KARL: And the idea of a Jewish state, Israel as a Jewish state, that’s in the charter, that’s the way it is now. Do you support that? MAMDANI: I’ve said time and again that I support the state of Israel as a state with equal rights. I believe that any state that — KARL: But as a Jewish state is the question. MAMDANI: I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else, and a lot of that comes back to a fundamental belief that we should all be considered equal, no matter what our faith is. KARL: How big a problem — you’ve said it’s rising — is anti-Semitism in this city? MAMDANI: We’ve seen anti-Semitism rise in this city, we’ve seen the fact that Jewish New Yorkers comprise a minority of our city’s population, and yet continue to constitute a majority of the hate crimes that have been purveyed in this city, and that’s something that’s unacceptable. It’s something that we will never come to see as if it is a part of life. It’s something that has to be fought and rooted out of every one of the five boroughs. KARL: What did you think when Dan Goldman — when that coffee shop in Brooklyn, said that they didn’t — they wouldn’t serve him because of his support for Israel. KARL: Do you have a problem with – I mean, the idea of, you know, of an establishment like that saying they’re not going to serve somebody if they support Israel. MAMDANI: I’ve said that I have political disagreements with Congressmember Goldman. I do believe that that’s a response that goes beyond that. KARL: So that’s not the right kind of thing. MAMDANI: No, I think — I think it’s much better to keep that critique in the way that we’ve done it.
