“I am here to say that I am sorry. I am sorry for the pain and anguish you felt on October 7 and every day since. I’m sorry for any anti-Semitism you have experienced and the repugnant behavior of demonstrators masked as Hamas that you have endured. I’m sorry if you have not felt safe on the streets right here in your own hometown. I’m sorry for the unimaginable pain and hardship the hostages and their families endured and continue to endure.”
“I’m sorry for my mistaken assumption that widespread anti-Semitism could never happen again in modern sophisticated, educated society, and certainly not in New York City.”
When I first found out that Andrew Cuomo is running for mayor on a hard-hitting anti-anti-Semitism platform I was more than a bit wary, as I suspect many New Yorkers were. Cuomo did not exactly make a graceful exit in 2021, wracked by allegations of sexual misconduct and nursing home deaths from Covid.
But then I heard the speech he gave on April 1 at the West Side Institutional Synagogue. It was everything we’ve been wanting to hear from every American and European leader since 10/7 but only a few were brave enough to state the obvious—to state the truth. And there’s no question that both Cuomo and his father, Mario, were strong on understanding that Zionism is a subset of liberalism; if you’re not a Zionist, you’re not a liberal.
Under Andrew Cuomo, New York became the first state to oppose BDS, and then the first state to counter BDS by an executive order saying that if a company boycotts Israel, New York will boycott the company.
Cuomo didn’t just list all of the ways he will fight the surge of anti-Semitism in our schools and on our streets. He said the words that every New Yorker has been waiting to hear: With the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, “New York City should set the precedent” in fighting this century’s violent anti-Semitism.
“We must stop the disinformation being spoon fed in many of our educational institutions. We must hold the colleges accountable for their professors and the actions on their campuses. We must stop the flow of funding from countries dictating a biased curriculum. If they want to teach bias and misinformation, then it should be called for what it is… If they want to be an institution of higher education, they must hold themselves to a higher standard or we will.”
In addition, New York must accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism and “be creative and aggressive in making sure the law is enforced by exercising its jurisdiction over human rights violations, which can be prosecuted by New York City without needing a district attorney or a judge to intervene.”
Cuomo said that his administration will show no ambivalence in its full support of both Israel and Jews in the United States. “Any ambivalence by government officials will only fuel the opposition. And the truth is the forces of anti-Semitism and pro-Palestinian policies are organized, well funded, and mobilized, and have significant political strength, even right here in the city of New York.”
Cuomo then detailed the illiberal ideas of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA); two of his eight opponents are members of the DSA, the others could be called DSA-adjacent. “The DSA advocates that Israel is a racist apartheid state that is engaged in ethnic cleansing. On October 7th, they proclaimed ‘long live the resistance.’”
The DSA charter supports BDS policies against Israel and calls for the end to American military “aid” to Israel. NYC Comptroller Brad Lander divested city pension funds from Israel Bonds for the first time in 50 years. NYC first invested $30 million in Israel Bonds in 1974 via the Teachers Retirement pension system. Today, only the Police Pension Fund owns a small position of $1.17 million in Israeli Yankee bonds.
Meanwhile, DSA Assemblyman Zohran Manami proposed a bill that would revoke the not-for-profit designation of any organization that aided Israel.
“Remember this is happening here,” said Cuomo. “Silence is acceptance. This country made that mistake once and must never make it again.”
Nearly 7,000 Jewish city voters recently registered as Democrats ahead of the June mayoral primary. The number of registered Jewish Democrats in New York is now more than 600,000.
“No one should feel they should take off their yarmulke to walk down the street. No one should think they should put the Star of David inside their shirt. No one should feel the need to look over their shoulder leaving a synagogue. This city must ensure that you feel safe on every street every day, every hour. That must be the mandate. If you discriminate or harass an individual on the basis of their religion, or destroy property, that is illegal, and people must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No more slaps on the wrist, no more excuses.”
“New York would not be New York without the Jewish community. It has been part of New York City since its first days on the tip of lower Manhattan when the first immigrants stepped off the boats. It’s our legacy at this pivotal moment.
“Let New York City set the international standard of a people, of a government, of a society that has zero tolerance for any anti-Semitic act of any kind…. As Rabbi Sacks said, peace is a duet not a solo. It cannot be made by one side alone; if it could, it would’ve been made long ago.”
Karen Lehrman Bloch is editor in chief of White Rose Magazine.
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