Mamdani earns endorsement from influential Orthodox-Jewish community leader in NYC

The leader of a faction of the Haredi community in New York City endorsed Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, on Sunday.

The coveted endorsement comes just two days before election day.

Rabbi Moshe Indig, a political leader of the Ahronim faction of the anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidic community, endorsed Mamdani at a public meeting in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Sunday, days after rumours of an endorsement from a Haredi faction were said to be on the cards.

News of the proposed endorsement was posted on the Williamsburg365 website on Saturday.

Rabbi Indig had previously endorsed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the June mayoral primaries. Cuomo is running as an Independent in the elections and, according to polls, is trailing in second place behind Mamdani. 

In an interview with The New York Times in June, Rabbi Indig did not rule out adding Mamdani to his slate of endorsements for the primary, which the Times perceived to be a result of Mayor Eric Adams' team trying to sway Orthodox-Jewish support away from Cuomo.

Rabbi Indig described Mamdani as “a very nice guy, very humble” to the NYT. 

“According to my conversation, he told me that he’s not an antisemite and he would work with the entire city, all communities,” he said. “As mayor, we wouldn’t have a problem with him. But because of all the public statements, it’s a little difficult,” he said, referring to the Queens assemblyman’s criticisms of Israel, which have alienated other Orthodox leaders.

Mamdani has been meeting with Jewish leaders across the city. His criticisms of Israel have divided the Jewish community. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 60 percent of Jewish voters said they are voting for Cuomo, while 16 percent said they were voting for Mamdani.

Rabbi Indig’s endorsement of Mamdani has led to pushback by leaders in the same faction and other Haredi factions, with three other leaders of the Satmar Arhonim faction announcing support for Cuomo shortly after Indig announced his endorsement.

Rabbi Indig traditionally makes public statements on behalf of the Ahronim faction in Williamsburg. 

The Satmar Haredi community in Williamsburg has more than 57,000 members in the borough and is reported to be one of the largest Haredi communities in the world. They also have approximately 300,000 members globally.

Highly coveted

New York City mayoral candidates have traditionally sought endorsements from the Haredi community, which consists of tens of thousands of people. Each Haredi faction tends to vote as a bloc.

The Satmar Ahronim faction says they helped deliver 7,500 votes to mayoral frontrunner Bill de Blasio in 2013, when he obtained more than 40 percent of the votes needed to avoid a runoff. He avoided a runoff by 5,000 votes. 

According to an article in The Forward, if Mamdani wins the Mayoral race, it would be the third consecutive time in which “Ahronim’s political arm has demonstrated its political influence by backing the eventual winner, while other Hasidic blocs supported rival candidates”.

They endorsed Adams over Andrew Yang in 2021, when Yang was the most popular candidate among the Haredi community. And they backed de Blasio over Bill Thompson in 2013, when Thompson was the favourite to win among the Haredi community.

The Ahronim and the Zalis factions both make up the Satmar community. The Zalis faction said they were not endorsing a specific candidate for mayor on Friday. Zalis's leadership, however, did encourage their followers to vote and distanced themselves from the campaign being waged against Mamdani.

In a statement, Zalis's political leadership said they felt “compelled to distance ourselves from the irresponsible scare campaign and incitement against Zohran Mamdani".

The Satmar Hasidic group is fundamentally anti-Zionist and opposes the state of Israel on religious grounds. Their beliefs do not permit the existence of the state of Israel before the arrival of the messiah. They are also opposed to the secular nature of the State of Israel and oppose mandatory military service in the Israeli army.