We, the undersigned rabbis and cantors of New York City, write because the Jewish community sees with increasing clarity that threats to Jewish safety are growing, and too often those entrusted with leadership have responded with equivocation instead of moral clarity.

A new survey of Jewish voters confirms what we are hearing every day in our synagogues, schools, and communal institutions: concern over antisemitism is near universal. This anxiety is not isolated, partisan, or ideological. It cuts across boroughs, denominations, and political affiliations.

Significantly, most Jewish voters in New York believe Mayor Mamdani's refusal to condemn the phrase "globalize the Intifada" has directly emboldened pro-Hamas protesters, and most draw a direct connection between rising antisemitism and the normalization of anti-Zionism.

That concern is grounded in our lived communal experience. Though Jews comprise only about 10 percent of New York City's population, more than half of all confirmed hate crimes in the first quarter of this year targeted our community. That amounts to an anti-Jewish hate crime nearly every day in New York City.

Against this backdrop, Mayor Mamdani's veto of Intro 175, legislation that would have required clear safety plans at educational facilities, while safeguarding lawful peaceful protest, has only deepened the sense that Jewish security is not being treated with the urgency this moment demands. This veto told Jewish New Yorkers that practical measures to strengthen communal safety are negotiable.

Jewish New Yorkers need something very simple from our mayor: a clear and unequivocal recognition that excluding, stigmatizing, or targeting Jews because of a core Jewish value, support for Jewish self-determination in our historic homeland, is discrimination.

Being a Zionist does not mean supporting every policy of the state of Israel or any particular Israeli politician. It simply means affirming the right of the Jewish people to national dignity and self-determination, a belief held by the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community. That belief must not become a pretext to make Jews targets for harassment, intimidation, or violence.

Therefore, we call on Mayor Mamdani to support legislation designed to better protect vulnerable institutions, to denounce rhetoric that demonizes Zionists, and to once and for all condemn, not merely discourage, calls to globalize the intifada.

For generations, New York has been the greatest center of Jewish life in America. Whether it remains so will depend on whether this city's leaders are willing to defend Jewish dignity and Jewish safety with the clarity this moment requires.

Signed,

**NOTE: Only name and city will be made public**

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