More than 700 pro-Israel rabbis have signed onto an open letter published on Friday calling on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to retract his comments likening the pro-Israel lobbying group Aipac to "monsters".
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is among the most powerful advocacy groups working on foreign policy in the US, spending millions to oust political candidates who are critical of Israel.
The letter was organised by the relatively new advocacy group The Jewish Majority, founded by an Aipac veteran of nearly two decades, Jonathan Schulman.
"We are rabbis and cantors from across the United States. We serve different communities, hold different political views, and do not speak with one voice on every question concerning Israel, American politics or the war in Gaza," the letter began. "But we are united in our belief that Mayor Zohran Mamdani's recent speech about pro-Israel civic participation is dangerous, unacceptable and beneath the office he holds."
In remarks at a rally with Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders on 18 June, Mamdani likened Aipac's actions to "monsters" who use "millions in dark money to accomplish a single goal: to preserve their power, so that they can turn us against one another".
