Today, New York City holds its mayoral primary. For an in-depth discussion of the election’s Jewish implications, I refer you to last week’s podcast conversation with Jay Lefkowitz. But it’s worth revisiting the loathsomeness of the hard-left candidate Zohran Mamdani, currently expected to get a large share of the vote. Seth Mandel writes:

Mamdani has never been subtle about his extremism. He founded his alma mater’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, the campus pro-Hamas organization that has been most vocal in support of violence against Jews in the wake of the October 7 attacks. Mamdani instituted a policy of “non-normalization,” meaning he would not allow the group to work with anyone who believed in the Jewish right to self-determination.

These days, Mamdani spends his time promising to arrest the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and getting fundraising help from the Democratic Socialists of America, which just endorsed the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, outside the Capital Jewish Museum. A key campaign ally of his is Linda Sarsour, among the most infamous and virulent anti-Semites in the modern history of New York City politics.

As if all that weren’t enough, Mamdani, currently an assemblyman, refused to support a resolution condemning the Holocaust. When pressed on the move, his campaign manager made clear it was a campaign-related decision—essentially the product of a left-wing candidate running further to his left, banking on gaining more voters than he’d lose by refusing to take sides on the Holocaust.

What Mamdani was happy to condemn, however, was Israel’s exploding-pager operation against Hizballah.

Considering the current state of Israel-Arab relations, Ghaith al-Omari writes

First and foremost, no ceasefire will be possible without the release of Israeli hostages and commitments to disarm Hamas and remove it from power. The final say on these matters rests with Hamas commanders on the ground in Gaza, who have been largely impervious to foreign pressure so far. At minimum, however, the United States should insist that Qatari and Egyptian mediators push Hamas’s external leadership to accept these conditions publicly, which could increase pressure on the group’s Gaza leadership.

Washington should also demand a clear, public position from key Arab states regarding disarmament. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas endorsed this position in a June letter to Saudi Arabia and France, giving Arab states Palestinian cover for endorsing it themselves.

Some Arab states have already indicated a willingness to play a significant role, but they will have little incentive to commit resources and personnel to Gaza unless Israel (1) provides guarantees that it will not occupy the Strip indefinitely, and (2) removes its veto on a PA role in Gaza’s future, even if only symbolic at first. Arab officials are also seeking assurances that any role they play in Gaza will be in the context of a wider effort to reach a two-state solution.

On the other hand, Washington must remain mindful that current conditions between Israel and the Palestinians are not remotely conducive to . . . implementing a two-state solution.