Sen. Chuck Schumer said that people who oppose Israel’s existence as a Jewish state are antisemitic—a definition that could encompass New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Schumer, the Senate’s Democratic minority leader, made the comments at a New York Public Library event in May 2025 while discussing his book, “Antisemitism in America, A Warning.”
“To be anti-Zionist—to not believe the Jewish people should have a state—is in my view a form of antisemitism,” Schumer said, according to video of the event that has resurfaced. Pro-Palestinian protesters repeatedly heckled him during the appearance.
“If you believe every other people should have their own state, but the Jewish people should not, that is antisemitic,” Schumer added.
Mamdani faced criticism during last year’s mayoral campaign after declining to say whether Israel should exist as a Jewish state.
“I believe Israel has a right to exist and it has a right to exist also with equal rights for all,” Mamdani said at a UJA-Federation-sponsored event in May 2025.
Mamdani, a vocal critic of Israel, supports the controversial boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against the Jewish-led country and has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. The mayor also skipped this year’s Salute to Israel Day Parade in New York.
He has also drawn controversy by calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week, Netanyahu accused Mamdani of antisemitism, saying he had fueled hatred and made New York City less safe for Jews.
Mamdani has said he supports Jewish New Yorkers and maintains “zero tolerance” for antisemitism and bigotry of any kind, despite his criticism of Israel and Netanyahu.
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El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, has tried to recast the debate when asked whether he rejects Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
“I do not. I just dispute the idea that you should have an ethno-state,” he told an interviewer. “I dispute Egypt’s right to be an ethno-state, and Saudi Arabia’s right to be an ethno-state.”
During a recent CNN interview, El-Sayed similarly redirected a question about whether Israel has a “right to exist” as a Jewish state.
“It’s interesting. Nobody has ever asked me if Palestinians have a right to exist,” El-Sayed told host Kasie Hunt.
“The question of whether or not Israel has a right to exist is quite secondary to whether they have a right to our tax dollars,” he continued. “Israel exists. The question is whether or not we want a politics where our money is sent over to Israel to do genocide and apartheid instead of investing in our own kids.”
El-Sayed continued to resist the framing when Hunt pressed him on the issue.
“The question of Israel’s existence is not a question. I’m not going to play this gotcha game,” he said. “The question we ought to ask is, ‘Does everyone have equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination?’”
Schumer, Mamdani’s office and El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last week, the NYPL hosted an event featuring Benjamin Moser, a Jewish author who compared the Jewish state to a “dog shelter.” Moser’s book, “Anti-Zionism, a Jewish History,” criticizes Israel and its existence as a Jewish-led state.
The NYPL said it presents a range of perspectives on contentious and politically sensitive issues.