The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, the graduate student who was leading demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza last year, was roundly denounced by most of the Democrats running for mayor. But there were some telling exceptions.
What makes the Trump administration’s arrest and attempted deportation of Khalil so shocking is that he is accused of no actual crime. The permanent legal resident was targeted for his political beliefs: proudly pro-Palestinian, he was accused of allying himself with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.
But there’s no evidence that Khalil offered any material support to Hamas or even had a tangential tie to the political and military organization that dominates Gaza. Khalil simply holds political views that the Trump administration, along with many staunch Israel supporters, find abhorrent. Now he might be deported, along with other pro-Palestinian activists that President Donald Trump has signaled he might target.
Notably, two mayoral candidates did not explicitly condemn the arrest: Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo. Adams’ initial response was bizarre, telling reporters that if Khalil “has a gun, he needs to go,” even though the activist had no weapon and wasn’t accused of ever wielding one. (Adams later said he was making an off-the-cuff remark after being asked about Khalil at an event about gun violence.)
Cuomo, the former governor and mayoral frontrunner, appeared to offer a degree of support for Khalil’s arrest. “All New Yorkers, including Jewish New Yorkers, deserve equal protection under the law. This is especially true in our schools, where every student should be able to learn free of discrimination, violence, and harassment,” he posted on X. “The antisemitic agitators at Columbia University & on campuses across the country have gone unchecked for too long.”
The politics at play here are rather straightforward: Among Orthodox Jews, Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters is popular and Cuomo very much wants their votes. Adams himself, if he runs a serious re-election campaign, has a chance to win Orthodox support as well. Scott Stringer, who is Jewish and strongly supportive of Israel, was not as outspoken against the arrest, either. He is aiming to pick up the backing of Jewish voters throughout the city.
For the other Democrats running to Cuomo’s left — Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani, Zellnor Myrie, and Jessica Ramos — the calculus is different. Many of them are earnestly horrified by Trump and believe he is attacking a legal resident’s First Amendment rights. But they’re also fighting over a large share of progressive Democratic voters who revile Trump and might be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
In 2021, Andrew Yang’s unwavering support for Israel doomed him with this cohort. Israel, still governed by the right-wing Benjamin Netanyahu, has grown less popular with younger, left-leaning American voters. The war in Gaza, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, only accelerated this trend.
It’s worth remembering that Israel, not too long ago, was not a fault line in municipal Democratic politics. In the 2013 primary, all the leading candidates were strong Israel backers. Bill de Blasio, who became the top progressive in the race, courted Orthodox Jewish voters and nearly won the support of Dov Hikind, an extremely conservative Democratic assemblyman who routinely endorsed Republican presidential candidates. There was no daylight between de Blasio and his Democratic opponents when it came to Israel.
Now, there are vast gulfs among the current candidates. Mamdani is a proud anti-Zionist. Cuomo is a resolute Zionist. Lander is a Zionist who has been openly critical of Israel. Given the contours of the primary, this will not be the last time Israel, Gaza, and the fate of the Palestinians becomes a top issue. More twists and turns await.
Ross Barkan is a journalist and author in New York City.
