More than 700 rabbis and cantors from across the United States signed onto a letter published Friday morning calling on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to apologize for remarks in which he described the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as “monsters” — language that Jewish leaders across the denominational spectrum have condemned as dangerous, unacceptable, and beneath the dignity of elected office.

The letter was organised by the Jewish Majority advocacy group, led by AIPAC veteran Jonathan Schulman. It called out the mayor for his remarks at a rally ahead of the Democratic primaries in New York, in which several congressional candidates backed by Mamdani secured victories.

A Letter Uniting Diverse Voices

The signatories represent a wide cross-section of American Jewish religious life — different movements, denominations, and political outlooks — yet their statement left no ambiguity about their collective judgment.

The letter demanded that Mamdani “retract his remarks and affirm clearly that Jews and pro-Israel Americans are full participants in our democracy.” It drew a clear line between legitimate policy debate and the demonisation of a community:

Schulman: An Opportunity to Reset

For Jonathan Schulman, who spearheaded the effort, the letter carries an urgent practical purpose — ensuring that Mamdani “understands his awesome responsibility to tamp down the rhetoric before somebody gets hurt.”

“Now that we are past the primaries, I think this is a real opportunity for the mayor to kind of reset and use this as a moment of focusing on building bridges instead of trying to divide the community,” Schulman said.

This was not the first time Jewish Majority had acted. In the lead-up to the November mayoral election, the group published a letter signed by over 1,000 rabbis and cantors challenging Mamdani’s previous defence of the slogan “globalize the Intifada” and opposing the “political normalisation” of anti-Zionism. Friday’s letter drew many of the same signatories, including Rabbi Joshua Davidson of the Reform Temple Emanu-El and Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz of the Orthodox Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun — both on the Upper East Side — with Steinmetz having approached Schulman on Monday to initiate the new letter.

The DSA Factor

The letter also addressed the broader political trajectory that Mamdani represents. The Democratic Socialists of America saw two candidates — Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez — win their Democratic primaries in New York on Tuesday, signalling a growing national footprint for the movement.

“We see that the DSA is growing in clout throughout the country,” Schulman said, “and as the most prominent member of the DSA, I think he really has an opportunity and a responsibility to tamp down on some of this language.”

Mamdani’s remarks were criticised not only by mainstream Jewish organisations but also by some of his own progressive Jewish allies — underscoring how widely the language was viewed as having crossed a line, regardless of one’s position on Israel or Gaza.