Rabbis Mamdani invited to City Hall tell him his Israel rhetoric is ‘causing harm’

 https://forward.com/news/844343/mamdani-rabbis-new-york-jews-israel/

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani heard a clear message Monday from rabbis with widely different views on Israel: His public statements denouncing Israel and its prime minister are hurting Jewish New Yorkers and making it harder for them to work with him on shared priorities.

The message came during an hour-long, closed-door roundtable at City Hall that included 10 rabbis from Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Modern Orthodox congregations invited by Mamdani to share their perspectives on how to combat antisemitism.

Many of the rabbis, she noted, are themselves “highly critical of Israel,” but approach that criticism from a connection to the country. They urged Mamdani to highlight Israelis and Palestinians working together, acknowledge greater complexity in the situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, and consider moving the public conversation toward issues where City Hall and Jewish leaders can work together.