I am known to have unrealistic expectations. For instance, once the Gaza 20-Point Peace Plan was signed, I naïvely, facetiously, imagined that Mark Ruffalo, Dua Lipa, Emma Stone, the Hadid sisters, Javier Bardem, New York City’s mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, and legions of pink-and purple-haired antisemites would all ecstatically dance the hora in celebration.
After all, aside from retrieving the remaining hostages still alive in Gaza, the agreement—when viewed most favorably to Palestinian sympathizers—addressed their ostensible concerns: an immediate ceasefire and an end to the killing of “innocent” civilians.
Israelis, nationwide, danced joyously, but had fewer reasons to do so. The war was over, and hostages were coming home. But the downsides were numerous: the IDF was withdrawing from the enclave responsible for the most Jewish deaths since the Holocaust; there’s the survival of, and amnesty granted to, Hamas, which planned and carried out those murders; terror tunnels were still intact and weapons still in enemy hands; nearly 4,000 terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands, and thirsting for more, were released; operational and security control of Gaza was being delegated to Muslim and Arab nations who didn’t want the job and won’t be very good at it; the Rafah border crossing, a hub for weapons smuggling, was now swung wide open; and there was to be no annexation of the West Bank, a hotbed of growing tensions.
That’s a good deal for Palestinians and a relatively lousy one for Israelis given what happened on October 7, 2023. Marxists on college campuses, imbeciles on Hollywood red carpets, terminally unemployed and sexually frustrated Islamists in Europe, and professional agitators fomenting anti-Israel violence in Western cities should be overjoyed!
Marxists on college campuses, imbeciles on Hollywood red carpets, terminally unemployed and sexually frustrated Islamists in Europe, and professional agitators fomenting anti-Israel violence in Western cities should be overjoyed!
Instead, celebrities went completely silent, pro-Hamas violence erupted in New York, London, Paris, Melbourne and Barcelona—synagogues vandalized, and Jews taunted—and the fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv, the soccer team, were banned from attending a Europa League match in Birmingham.
Back in Gaza, Hamas leaders blindfolded and publicly executed eight men accused of collaborating with Israel. They also hunted and killed rival militia and family clans that had been vying to unseat Hamas.
All this occurred days after the peace agreement went into effect! And doesn’t the agreement require that Hamas be demilitarized and have no further governmental or military control over the Palestinian people? Moreover, the bodily remains of 16 hostages have yet to be returned.
Hamas is already in serious breach of the agreement. Israeli troops should feel no compunction about regrouping and returning to Gaza City to finalize their moral mission.
If you are still cheering for Hamas, then the lives of Palestinians never meant that much to you, after all. Apparently, you have no problem applauding actions that would prolong the war and result in more lives lost.
As for the leading contender to occupy Gracie Mansion as New York’s next mayor, Mamdani dodged the question whether Hamas should, in fact, lay down its weapons. He then blatantly lied—even by the low standards of a politician—in stating that he had no particular opinions about Hamas, or Israel.
Does he feel immune to a simple Google search!? His entire young life so far has been dedicated to vile antisemitism. He doesn’t do anything else well. Repeatedly he has demonstrated his contempt for the Jewish state and shown support for all terrorists who live to kill Jews.
Does Mamdani feel immune to a simple Google search!? His entire young life so far has been dedicated to vile antisemitism. He doesn’t do anything else well.
As a student at Bowdoin College, he founded its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He supported SJP’s National Day of Resistance on October 8, 2023. He participated in rallies organized by Within Our Lifetime, including one on October 9, which called for the full liberation of Palestine (meaning, the end of Israel), “by any means necessary” (meaning, gangraping Israeli teenagers and torching Jewish babies).
On October 8, Mamdani publicly called for the dismantling of Israel without saying a word about the atrocities Hamas committed the day before. As a New York assemblyman, he refused to sign a resolution condemning the Holocaust and another one honoring Israel’s founding.
As a mayoral candidate, he has defended the chant “Globalize the Intifada!”, which is tantamount to saying, “Kill all Jews wherever they happen to be—even in the city I am hoping to someday lead.” He has rejected the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted by 45 countries, including the United States Department of State— which, among other things, properly defines libeling Israel as a racist state to be antisemitic.
He promises to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even though he has no authority or jurisdiction to do so. He has even, bizarrely, blamed Israel for police brutality against African-Americans in the United States.
Much of this can be explained as inherited hatred. His father, a Columbia University professor, teaches his students that Israel is no different from Nazi Germany.
Now the son, with a straight but smug face, assures New Yorkers that he hasn’t given much thought to Israel or Hamas.
Would he get elected if he said what he was really thinking? The “Genocide!” charge was always a ruse, a convenient misdirection, a sucker’s game. He and his Islamist-Marxist allies couldn’t care less about ceasefires. For them, peace will bring no peace to the Middle East without the end of a Jewish presence in the region. Does he feel the same way about the five boroughs of New York?
The end of Israel was always the endgame. That’s what “Free, free Palestine!” means—liberate it from the Jews. “Justice” means giving the Jews of Israel what they deserve for stealing Arab land.
Why do you think they refer to all Jews as “Zios”? All Jews are held responsible for the creation and mind-blowing success of Israel. “Intifada!” was never an innocuous word vaguely advocating for Palestinian rights. It means slaughtering Jews, ending the humiliation of .02 percent of all Arab lands being occupied by a powerful, pluralistic and modern Jewish state.
Tell stupid Westerners what they want to hear. They’ll believe anything. Gullible Europeans have shown themselves to be too afraid to parse the true meaning of Muslim talking points.
Talk about coexistence even though Islam craves caliphates and conquests. Demand diversity even though we have no flare for democracy and refuse integratration. Nothing about us is nonviolent, but it’s Islamophobic to point that out.
“Two-State Solution”? How about one entirely Jew-less state, instead?
We don’t even require trained terrorists anymore. We can mobilize hundreds of thousands of Jew-haters, all ideologically brainwashed conscripts, deployed from TikTok and Instagram—the ultimate Followers.
As for this upcoming mayoral election, Mamdani’s caginess and duplicity is holding back the ultimate truth of this age: Anyone who despises Israel as much as he does, hates America even more.
New York City voters should at least know what they are about to elect.
Muhammad’s Mayor
Thane Rosenbaum
I am known to have unrealistic expectations. For instance, once the Gaza 20-Point Peace Plan was signed, I naïvely, facetiously, imagined that Mark Ruffalo, Dua Lipa, Emma Stone, the Hadid sisters, Javier Bardem, New York City’s mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, and legions of pink-and purple-haired antisemites would all ecstatically dance the hora in celebration.
After all, aside from retrieving the remaining hostages still alive in Gaza, the agreement—when viewed most favorably to Palestinian sympathizers—addressed their ostensible concerns: an immediate ceasefire and an end to the killing of “innocent” civilians.
Israelis, nationwide, danced joyously, but had fewer reasons to do so. The war was over, and hostages were coming home. But the downsides were numerous: the IDF was withdrawing from the enclave responsible for the most Jewish deaths since the Holocaust; there’s the survival of, and amnesty granted to, Hamas, which planned and carried out those murders; terror tunnels were still intact and weapons still in enemy hands; nearly 4,000 terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands, and thirsting for more, were released; operational and security control of Gaza was being delegated to Muslim and Arab nations who didn’t want the job and won’t be very good at it; the Rafah border crossing, a hub for weapons smuggling, was now swung wide open; and there was to be no annexation of the West Bank, a hotbed of growing tensions.
That’s a good deal for Palestinians and a relatively lousy one for Israelis given what happened on October 7, 2023. Marxists on college campuses, imbeciles on Hollywood red carpets, terminally unemployed and sexually frustrated Islamists in Europe, and professional agitators fomenting anti-Israel violence in Western cities should be overjoyed!
Instead, celebrities went completely silent, pro-Hamas violence erupted in New York, London, Paris, Melbourne and Barcelona—synagogues vandalized, and Jews taunted—and the fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv, the soccer team, were banned from attending a Europa League match in Birmingham.
Back in Gaza, Hamas leaders blindfolded and publicly executed eight men accused of collaborating with Israel. They also hunted and killed rival militia and family clans that had been vying to unseat Hamas.
All this occurred days after the peace agreement went into effect! And doesn’t the agreement require that Hamas be demilitarized and have no further governmental or military control over the Palestinian people? Moreover, the bodily remains of 16 hostages have yet to be returned.
Hamas is already in serious breach of the agreement. Israeli troops should feel no compunction about regrouping and returning to Gaza City to finalize their moral mission.
If you are still cheering for Hamas, then the lives of Palestinians never meant that much to you, after all. Apparently, you have no problem applauding actions that would prolong the war and result in more lives lost.
As for the leading contender to occupy Gracie Mansion as New York’s next mayor, Mamdani dodged the question whether Hamas should, in fact, lay down its weapons. He then blatantly lied—even by the low standards of a politician—in stating that he had no particular opinions about Hamas, or Israel.
Does he feel immune to a simple Google search!? His entire young life so far has been dedicated to vile antisemitism. He doesn’t do anything else well. Repeatedly he has demonstrated his contempt for the Jewish state and shown support for all terrorists who live to kill Jews.
As a student at Bowdoin College, he founded its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He supported SJP’s National Day of Resistance on October 8, 2023. He participated in rallies organized by Within Our Lifetime, including one on October 9, which called for the full liberation of Palestine (meaning, the end of Israel), “by any means necessary” (meaning, gangraping Israeli teenagers and torching Jewish babies).
On October 8, Mamdani publicly called for the dismantling of Israel without saying a word about the atrocities Hamas committed the day before. As a New York assemblyman, he refused to sign a resolution condemning the Holocaust and another one honoring Israel’s founding.
As a mayoral candidate, he has defended the chant “Globalize the Intifada!”, which is tantamount to saying, “Kill all Jews wherever they happen to be—even in the city I am hoping to someday lead.” He has rejected the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted by 45 countries, including the United States Department of State— which, among other things, properly defines libeling Israel as a racist state to be antisemitic.
He promises to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even though he has no authority or jurisdiction to do so. He has even, bizarrely, blamed Israel for police brutality against African-Americans in the United States.
Much of this can be explained as inherited hatred. His father, a Columbia University professor, teaches his students that Israel is no different from Nazi Germany.
Now the son, with a straight but smug face, assures New Yorkers that he hasn’t given much thought to Israel or Hamas.
Would he get elected if he said what he was really thinking? The “Genocide!” charge was always a ruse, a convenient misdirection, a sucker’s game. He and his Islamist-Marxist allies couldn’t care less about ceasefires. For them, peace will bring no peace to the Middle East without the end of a Jewish presence in the region. Does he feel the same way about the five boroughs of New York?
The end of Israel was always the endgame. That’s what “Free, free Palestine!” means—liberate it from the Jews. “Justice” means giving the Jews of Israel what they deserve for stealing Arab land.
Why do you think they refer to all Jews as “Zios”? All Jews are held responsible for the creation and mind-blowing success of Israel. “Intifada!” was never an innocuous word vaguely advocating for Palestinian rights. It means slaughtering Jews, ending the humiliation of .02 percent of all Arab lands being occupied by a powerful, pluralistic and modern Jewish state.
Tell stupid Westerners what they want to hear. They’ll believe anything. Gullible Europeans have shown themselves to be too afraid to parse the true meaning of Muslim talking points.
Talk about coexistence even though Islam craves caliphates and conquests. Demand diversity even though we have no flare for democracy and refuse integratration. Nothing about us is nonviolent, but it’s Islamophobic to point that out.
“Two-State Solution”? How about one entirely Jew-less state, instead?
We don’t even require trained terrorists anymore. We can mobilize hundreds of thousands of Jew-haters, all ideologically brainwashed conscripts, deployed from TikTok and Instagram—the ultimate Followers.
As for this upcoming mayoral election, Mamdani’s caginess and duplicity is holding back the ultimate truth of this age: Anyone who despises Israel as much as he does, hates America even more.
New York City voters should at least know what they are about to elect.
Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He is the legal analyst for CBS News Radio. His most recent book is titled, “Beyond Proportionality: Israel’s Just War in Gaza.”
Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
Editor's Picks
Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review
The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC
What Ever Happened to the LA Times?
Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?
You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House
No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center
Latest Articles
A Bisl Torah — God’s Emergent Voice
A Moment in Time: “Shavuot (and Chess) – Between Moves we Choose who we Become”
Greek Figs, Jewish Limes
Two Smiling Zionists, Interrupted by a Mob
Print Issue: Smart Fighting | May 22, 2026
Luxury Travel in 2026 Is Not What You Think.
Lev Livitsky’s Very Complicated Second Act
“Out From Under” is filled with strong, dynamic women who all have something to teach Lev, but the author resists framing the novel as a feminist project.
Amid Surge in Antisemitism, Spanish Jewish Leader Builds Landmark Museum in Madrid
Hatchwell believes the most powerful response is not silence or retreat, but education.
Cantor Chayim Frenkel: Fulfilling the Promise of L’dor V’dor
Forty years mark a full biblical generation — a measure of time often associated with transformation, endurance and renewal. Few people embody that idea more fully than Cantor Chayim Frenkel.
Laura Stein Elected Chair of Israel Bonds’ National Campaign Advisory Council
Since its founding in 1951, Israel Bonds has focused on one mission: to generate financial support for the building and development of Israel’s economy.
The Boyle Heights Lessons Behind Villaraigosa’s Run for Governor
Villaraigosa is running for governor by arguing that California needs the lessons he says he learned there: dignity for working families, better schools, public safety, second chances, coalition building and transparent government that works.
Gatekeeping Our Future: How Sky-High Cost of Jewish Education Mirrors LA’s Housing Affordability Trap
Treating education costs and housing as parallel crises reveals a unified threat to demographic and cultural vitality.
It’s Getting Hot– Moroccan Chicken Skewers
With Memorial Day here and the official start of the summer grilling season, we offer you a recipe for delicious for Moroccan-spiced chicken skewers.
Fire Up the Grill for Memorial Day Weekend
There’s nothing like gathering outdoors, firing up the grill and trying some new, delicious dishes. While traditional cookout fare always has its place, there are plenty of ways to mix things up.
A Trio of Dairy Desserts from Pati Jinich for Shavuot
Given the prominence of dairy in Mexican cuisines, Jinich loves embracing dairy for Shavuot, which is one of her favorite parts of the holiday.
Table for Five: Shavuot
The Tenth Commandment
Duck Arithmetic : Contradiction, Certainty, and the Jewish State
The strangest thing is the instability of standards — the peculiar way arithmetic shifts, the speed with which contradictions become irrelevant, the confidence with which certainty arrives before inquiry.
Fighting Smart
A new book by Melanie Phillips challenges the conventional wisdom and offers innovative ideas and practical tools to fight the global surge of antisemitism.
Rosner’s Domain | Analysis as Substitute for Panic
Was there a plan for bringing about a revolution, or more a hope than a plan?
We’ve Seen This Movie Before. Don’t Sit Through It Twice.
We are being manipulated, by the same people, with the same playbook.
A Ray of Zionist Hope on a College Campus
In a world where encampments, boycotts and student government protests of released hostages make headlines, we must focus on students who want to learn, engage and become bridge builders.
Transformation — The Art of Spiritual Leadership
To be spiritual is to be connected. To be connected is to experience the ways of being, like dancing and loving, as they are shared with others.
The Ultimate Act of Antisemitism
There are currently two pieces of legislation (in addition to joint resolutions) that are aimed toward stripping Israel of American military arms. Every military action Israel takes is under interpretation for legality. That is despite them battling a multi-front attack.
Israel’s Noam Bettan Finishes Second at Eurovision 2026
Bettan performed “Michelle,” a Hebrew, French and English pop song, and finished with 343 total points: 220 from the public vote and 123 from national juries.
Shavuot, the Source of American Gratitude
Abraham Lincoln established the yearly American practice of finding – amidst our personal and national battles – sources of brightness within them, and being thankful for them.
Barri Worth Girvan: Leading Jewishly in LA
Barri Worth Girvan has always been the Jewish voice in the room—not when it was convenient or politically opportune.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.