Parades for Pakistan, Eradication for Israel: Mamdani’s Hypocrisy Goes Unchecked on ABC

By: Jennifer Kouzi July 1, 2026

On June 28, 2026, ABC News’ Jonathan Karl sat down for an interview with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The topics centered around the recent democratic primaries in New York City and his support for certain candidates and the positions they hold. When Karl asked the self-described anti-Zionist about Israel, he failed to challenge Mamdani’s flawed definition of Jewishness or his hypocrisy regarding democratic rights.

After Mamdani first lambasted Israeli actions in Gaza, Karl asked if he supported Israel as a Jewish State following the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) rejection of a two-state solution. Mamdani gave a rehearsed response: “I’ve said time and again, I support the State of Israel as a state with equal rights. I believe that any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else . . . we should all be considered equal no matter what our faith is.”

The pretense that Mamdani is against any countries that “privilege” one religion over the other is demonstrably and obviously false, and yet Karl failed to challenge him.

There are Christian countries with state designated religion – Mamdani has never voiced an issue with them. There are more than two dozen countries whose constitutions designate Islam as their state religion or who refer to themselves as Islamic Republics or monarchies – many of whom “privilege” Islam over others. Mamdani has no problem with them either.

How do we know? Well, Mamdani marched in a New York City parade in celebration of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which has constitutional provisions and specific penal laws that apply differently to non-Muslims.

In Pakistan, non-Muslims are constitutionally disqualified from holding the positions of president and prime minister. Religious minorities are systematically persecuted there, including pursuant to laws outlawing blasphemy against Islam.

Mamdani’s inclusion of Saudi Arabia with Israel is a transparent attempt to appear as if he is not singling out Israel. But in trying to equalize the two countries, Mamdani looks both ridiculous and wrong. As Attorney Mark Goldfeder wrote, Israel is a “Jewish democracy with equal citizenship for non-Jews. [Saudi Arabia] is an absolute monarchy governed by sharia.” Saudi Arabia prohibits public practice of any religion but Islam and both apostasy and blasphemy can carry the death penalty there.

Mamdani in Emirates jerseyMamdani has never announced a boycott of the Maldives where non-Muslims are barred from citizenship. He has no critique of the UAE either, where Muslims are allowed to proselytize but those of other religions are not – and has even sported an Emirates jersey. International law professor Eugene Kontorovich poked fun at Mamdani’s poor attempt at logic, extrapolating it to mean Mamdani was against countries that had Islam as their official religion, including the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Jordan.

In addition to Mamdani’s unchallenged hypocrisy, Karl did not correct Mamdani’s understanding of the meaning and character of the word “Jewish” when Karl asked the mayor about Israel as a Jewish State. Being Jewish does not simply relate to “faith,” though that’s what Mamdani made it all about – and Karl let him.

As Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal remarked, in referring to Mamdani’s answer about Jewishness, “The premise itself is false.”

If Jews are not just a religion, what are they? When asked by non-Jews if Jews are a religion, race or nationality, renowned author and scholar Dara Horn responds that Jews predate all of those categories – they are a type of group common in the ancient Near East. She explains Jews are a joinable tribal group with a shared history, homeland and culture.

If Mamdani’s criteria were honestly that he only supported countries where all citizens had equal rights irrespective of religion, that should mean he supports the State of Israel in its present form. All Israeli citizens have the same civil and political rights, irrespective of whether they are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Bahá’í, Druze or atheist. Ironically, the only faith-based legal distinction among citizens is that Israeli Arabs, who account for approximately 20% of the population, are exempt from serving in the Israel Defense Forces, though many serve voluntarily anyway.

Mamdani’s pre-packaged and predictable talking points were something ABC News should have anticipated. Instead of preparing for the rehearsed soundbites, Karl said nothing. Instead, he allowed an anti-Zionist (and alleged antisemite) – someone Jewish leaders have deemed dangerous to the community – define what it means to be Jewish and mischaracterize civil rights in Israel. Beyond that, ABC allowed Mamdani’s rank hypocrisy to go unchecked with respect to Christian and Islamic states he never critiques, and at least one at whose parade he celebrated.

Comments are closed.