It has been a busy week for Zohran Mamdani, especially when it comes to a legal jurisdiction he seems unusually interested in. The problem is that the jurisdiction in question is not New York City. It is Israel.
Mamdani once again talked about arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, echoing a promise he made during the campaign. Then reality intervened, and he acknowledged that he would not actually have the authority to do it.
That did not stop him from calling Netanyahu a “war criminal,” even though Netanyahu has not been tried or convicted by an international court.
The episode also brought several of Mamdani’s older comments back into circulation. In one clip, he argued that Israel is “not a place” and “not a country” for some people.
Wishing a peaceful Tisha B’Av to Jewish New Yorkers across the five boroughs.
From sundown tonight until tomorrow, mourners will pause and reflect on the history and resiliency of the Jewish people.
May all observing have a safe and meaningful fast.
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2026
That position made his later Tisha B’Av message feel especially strange.
On social media, Mamdani wished Jewish New Yorkers a “peaceful Tisha B’Av.”
“From sundown tonight until tomorrow, mourners will pause and reflect on the history and resiliency of the Jewish people,” he wrote on X.
“May all observing have a safe and meaningful fast.”
Under ordinary circumstances, that would be a harmless and respectful message from a mayor to Jewish residents. But Mamdani’s own views about Israel made it difficult to separate the post from the larger contradiction.
Tisha B’Av is not a generic holiday about perseverance. It is rooted in Jewish mourning over the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and the repeated displacement of the Jewish people from the land of Israel.
The comments under Mamdani’s post reflected that tension. Some responses were crude and vulgar. Others made a more substantive point: it is difficult to acknowledge the meaning of Tisha B’Av while also dismissing Israel as an artificial or illegitimate place.
“Israel is not a place. It is not a country.”
Zohran Mamdani said this in 2023 alongside Hamas supporters Simone Zimmerman, Najla Said and Noura Erakat. pic.twitter.com/7YP3q1Pd1q
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) July 19, 2026
The holiday’s history is inseparable from Jerusalem.
On the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, Jews commemorate the destruction of the First Temple. Roughly five centuries later, the Second Temple was also destroyed on the same date. Jewish tradition also connects the day to the Roman conquest of Beitar during the Bar Kokhba revolt and the devastation of Jerusalem.
The date carries an even older meaning as well. According to Jewish tradition, the episode of the spies also took place on the ninth of Av. After the Israelites were warned that entering the land would be dangerous, they refused to proceed. As punishment, that generation was condemned to wander in the wilderness rather than enter the Promised Land.
In other words, Tisha B’Av is tied directly to the Jewish people’s relationship with the land of Israel. It mourns the destruction of Jewish life in Jerusalem, the loss of Jewish sovereignty and the consequences of exile.
That is what makes Mamdani’s message so politically awkward.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. pic.twitter.com/YRezmW6YVx
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2026
By recognizing Tisha B’Av, he is recognizing a tradition built around the idea that Jerusalem and the land of Israel have been central to Jewish identity for thousands of years. Yet he has also made statements suggesting that Israel is not truly a country or, for some people, not even a real place.
Those two positions do not fit comfortably together.
A politician can criticize the Israeli government. He can criticize Netanyahu. He can oppose Israeli military policy, settlement policy or the conduct of the war. None of that requires denying the historical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel.
But once someone moves from criticizing a government to questioning whether the country itself is legitimate, gestures like a Tisha B’Av greeting begin to sound hollow.
Mamdani seems deeply preoccupied with Israel despite the fact that he does not live there, does not appear interested in living there and would have no legal authority over its leaders as mayor of New York City.
That makes his repeated focus on the country difficult to ignore.
There are many issues within New York City that would fall directly under a mayor’s authority. Arresting foreign leaders is not one of them. Deciding whether Israel qualifies as a real country is not one of them either.
Yet Mamdani continues to insert himself into both questions.
His Tisha B’Av post was presumably intended as a gesture of respect toward Jewish New Yorkers. Instead, it highlighted the central contradiction in his rhetoric. He acknowledged a day of mourning built around the Jewish people’s ancient bond with Jerusalem while continuing to promote ideas that undermine the legitimacy of a Jewish state in that same land.
That is not merely an awkward messaging problem. It raises a broader question about whether Mamdani understands the history he is invoking or simply believes that a holiday greeting can smooth over years of inflammatory statements.
