'Not once do you say Jews': Mamdani draws huge backlash after his tribute to October 7 victims
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing fierce criticism over a statement marking the anniversary of the October 7 attacks after several prominent figures accused him of turning a day of remembrance into a political argument about Israel and Gaza.
Mamdani's message acknowledged the Israelis killed and taken hostage during the attack, but quickly expanded into criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza.
This triggered an immediate backlash from Republicans and pro-Israel advocacy groups.
This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss. The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing. Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them – all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes. Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment. To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) October 7, 2026
What Zohran Mamdani's October 7 statement said
Mamdani opened his statement by acknowledging the grief surrounding October 7 and the Israelis who were killed or abducted.
“This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers,” he wrote, before referring to October 7 as a day of “horrific war crimes.”
He said that a violent extremist group had killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others, adding that New Yorkers should grieve with people who continue to carry the loss.
But the mayor's message quickly moved beyond the events of October 7 itself.
“The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” Mamdani wrote.
He then shifted his focus to the Israeli government's conduct in Gaza, accusing it of carrying out what he called an “ongoing genocide” and citing Palestinian casualties.
Mamdani said more than 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 21,000 children, had been killed in Gaza.
He also claimed that more than 1,400 Palestinians had died since what he described as the “so-called ceasefire.”
His statement went on to list alleged Israeli actions that he said had worsened the humanitarian situation, including strikes involving ambulances, residential buildings and journalists, as well as restrictions involving food aid.
Mamdani also connected the issue directly to New York residents, saying many were dealing with grief from the conflict while pointing to American financial support for Israel.
“All while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes,” he wrote.
Mamdani draws massive backlash
The backlash came from several directions, including politicians and Jewish advocacy groups.
Sen Ted Cruz called the statement “Utterly disgraceful,” accusing Mamdani of effectively turning the anniversary into a message about the violent group rather than concentrating on the victims.
Former New York Gov Andrew Cuomo also attacked the mayor's approach.
“October 7 should be sacred,” Cuomo wrote. He said the day should be used to remember those killed, the hostages and the Jewish community, adding: “There are 364 other days for politics.”
"Yet even today, NYC's Mayor cannot put aside his ideological obsession with Israel long enough to simply let Jews mourn," he wrote.
The Anti-Defamation League's Jonathan Greenblatt focused particularly on Mamdani's failure to use the word: "Jews."
“Not once do you say ‘Jews,’” Greenblatt wrote, accusing the mayor of using an occasion meant to remember the October 7 victims to repeat his anti-Israel arguments.
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