Opinion

New York City devolved into a scene of anarchy and chaos as protestors took to the streets to obstruct justice. Routine Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations are never routine when occurring in a leftist city, especially on a holiday weekend when protestors are already riled up and ready to ruin everyone else’s days off to ensure that their preferred causes are front of mind. Those who didn’t harass shoppers for their Black Friday purchases without paying deference to Gaza were chanting derogatory epithets to the NYPD. Meanwhile, halfway across the country, a massive fraud scheme was unraveling that cost the taxpayer over a billion dollars and was aided and abetted by elected officials. Both of these stories emphasized the same point: America has an immigration problem.

Presented with the opportunity to show that he plans to make good on his pledge to stand with Jewish New Yorkers to combat “the scourge of anti-Semitism,” Zohran Mamdani failed miserably. We now have even more reason to fear for our safety.

The incoming New York City mayoral administration is focusing directly on affordability, with the 400-member transition committees representing numerous nonprofits aiming to implement a rent freeze, upzoning near transit lines, and speeding up residential construction.

In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that the global Jewish diaspora is facing an unsettling squeeze — one that is closing in from both ideological extremes. On the left, an unlikely alliance between progressive activists and Islamist movements has generated a wave of hostility toward Israel and, by extension, Jews worldwide. On the extreme right, a rising tide of isolationist and populist voices, from figures like Tucker Carlson to the openly antisemitic fringes around Nick Fuentes, have found new ways to target Jews and the Jewish state.

Hundreds of supporters filled Pier Sixty on Manhattan’s West Side as One Israel Fund (OIF) marked its 31st annual gala under the resolute banner “RISE.” Against the backdrop of resurgent global anti-Semitism and continued war in Israel, the evening blended defiance, gratitude, and unapologetic pride in the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria. Looming heavily over the assembled was the dread of the incoming mayor, who has openly vowed, as an assemblyman, to target Jewish groups just like One Israel Fund because of his anti-Israel views.

“We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve, and no concern too small for it to care about.” — Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani during his victory speech.