“I’m not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else,” he explained. “Equality should be enshrined in every country in the world. That’s my belief.”

Mamdani’s refusal to endorse apartheid immediately generated vociferous backlash among the pro-Israel crowd.

“It’s more than problematic,” said Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, told the New York Post. “Jews see this as a dividing line.

Fellow candidate Whitney Tilson said voters should be “concerned” about Mamdani’s position.

“The Orthodox Jewish community is not afraid enough,” Sam Berger, an Orthodox Queens state assemblyman and Cuomo-backer, told Jewish Insider. “While the public generally takes its time to pay attention, we do not have that luxury this year. After two antisemitic attacks in under two weeks echoing the same rhetoric we have persistently warned against from the No. 2 mayoral candidate, we need to vote like our lives depend on it.”

“Zohran Mamdani couldn’t even pretend he supports Israel’s right to exist as actually Israel: Bad as everyone was on stage at the first Democratic mayoral debate, he disqualifies himself with that stance alone,” declared the New York Post’s editorial board.

“Jewish lives will be at stake if this man is elected,” tweeted New York City Council member Inna Vernikov. “He’s going to enable antisemitism like this city has never seen. If he wins and TRUE principled conservatives don’t remain in the Council, violence will SKYROCKET. Don’t just watch it unfold. Act. VOTE!”