Arab-Jewish stage actor Ari’el Stachel has called on New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to work closely with the Jewish community to address a surge in antisemitism. In an interview with Fox News, Stachel expressed his concerns about the growing hostility against Jewish residents and urged Mamdani to take concrete steps to ensure their safety. He emphasized that his own experiences with Islamophobia and now antisemitism have made him a strong advocate for unity and protection against hate speech.
The actor, who has lost family members to the intifada, said he is encouraged by Mamdani’s recent stance against the phrase ‘globalize the intifada,’ which many interpret as a call for violence against Jewish people. Stachel also extended an olive branch to Mamdani, offering to support him in his campaign if he can defeat incumbent mayor Eric Adams and Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa. His comments referenced an Instagram video he addressed to Mamdani last month, which was laced with concerns over antisemitism and urged the Democratic socialist to call out antisemitism specifically and denounce it.
While reluctant to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ during an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker last month, The New York Times recently reported that Mamdani, who has been highly critical of the state of Israel, told business leaders in the Big Apple that he would not use the phrase and that he would ‘discourage’ others from doing so. Many interpret the phrase as a call for violence against Jewish people. Stachel, who shared that he lost family members to the intifada, said he feels ‘encouraged’ to see Mamdani appear to denounce the phrase at last.
Stachel stated, ‘I want to protect against hate speech against any group, so for me, I am encouraged by the fact that he did denounce ‘globalize the intifada,’ – that was a situation that happened in Israel that killed members of my family, so I take it very personally.’ He also told co-hosts Bill Hemmer and Gillian Turner that he would be the ‘first person’ to join him in fighting for unity if he manages to defeat incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa in November. His main message is that he’s here to fight for unity and is willing to work alongside Mamdani if he becomes the mayor.
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.