(AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Times journalist Ezra Klein revealed that he refused to vote for the former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the NYC mayoral Democratic primary over his “vicious” and “repulsive” use of Israel to discredit rival Zohran Mamdani during a debate.
Speaking on The Ezra Klein Show, the host said Cuomo’s debate-stage attacks on Mamdani, a progressive state assemblyman of Ugandan-Indian descent, crossed a line and “closed” Cuomo’s viability as a candidate for him.
Klein said: “The other thing that actually closed it, the reason I would not rank him, was the way he used Israel in the campaign. I’m a Jewish person. I have very deep feelings about what is happening in Israel and Gaza. I found it so cynical and so repulsive. It was just such a vicious way to weaponize Mamdani’s ethnicity.”
The flashpoint came during a mayoral debate, when Mamdani, asked whether he would visit Israel as mayor, replied that he would remain focused on New York.
“You need not travel to Israel to stand up for Jewish
Cuomo seized on the answer: “And his answer was no. He won’t visit Israel.”
After rolling back the clip, Klein called it “such an obvious political game,” while MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes, his guest for the episode, described Cuomo’s move as “deathlessly cynical.”
Hayes pointed out that Cuomo, “a paisan from New York,” appeared to use Jewish identity as a political cudgel. Klein added that Jewish officials like City Comptroller Brad Lander supported Mamdani.
“Israel has become a culture war,” Klein said. “If you want to send a strong signal – I’m just struck by how many signals were sent – for people who do not have a lot of power over American policy toward Israel – on this issue.”
Hayes agreed: “I think the way this is developing within the Democratic Party is kind of dangerous. The idea that this becomes a signifier of the rich elites who control everything behind closed doors – which is both an antisemitic trope and something that touches on how money flows in Democratic politics – is a really combustible mix.”
Klein reflected that Mamdani branding himself as “anti-Zionist” was a “kind of declaration of Independence”: “I’d say two other things about it being a signifier. One is that it’s a signifier in two directions: It’s a signifier in one direction of being willing to stick to your beliefs that I think a lot of people in the base feel.
He continued: “That even Democrats who actually
He added: “In the other direction, it’s showing that you will not be cowed.”
Klein then reflected more broadly on the rhetorical tactics deployed in the race, arguing there was a growing political tendency to blur the lines between anti-Zionism and antisemitism – a conflation he sees as both intellectually dishonest and politically perilous.
“As a Jewish person, it’s very important that it is possible and understood to be possible that you can be anti-Zionist without being antisemitic,” he said.
Klein was candid about his own politics as a supporter of the two-state solution in Israel, albeit with diminishing hope in its viability, but argued that Mamdani’s anti-Zionism was rooted in principle, not prejudice.
“I very fundamentally believe Mamdani is anti-Zionist and not antisemitic,” he said. “In my view, he did a very good job making that clear in his responses.”
The host then argued that it’s inevitable that people would express “strong negative opinions” about Israel’s “brutal” conduct and treatment of Palestinians: “You just have to be able to be against what the Israeli state has become and not antisemitic.”
But Klein issued a warning to politicians and commentators who insist otherwise:
Listen in full below, beginning at the 1:10:24 mark: