Chuck Schumer called denying Jews a state a form of antisemitism, a definition that would cover Mayor Mamdani and Senate hopeful El-Sayed.
The New York Post reported that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer drew a bright line at a May 2025 New York Public Library event promoting his book, “Antisemitism in America, A Warning.”
To be anti-Zionist, Schumer said, is to deny the Jewish people a state of their own. In his view, that denial is a form of antisemitism. He went further: if every other people deserves a state and Jews alone do not, that is antisemitic.
That standard collides with positions taken by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Both have publicly hedged, reframed, or rejected the idea of Israel as a Jewish state while casting themselves as opponents of bigotry.
Schumer spoke at the New York Public Library while discussing the book. Pro-Palestinian protesters repeatedly heckled him during the appearance. Video of the remarks later resurfaced as the party’s rising stars faced fresh questions about Israel.
His words were direct. “To be anti-Zionist, to not believe the Jewish people should have a state, is in my view a form of antisemitism,” Schumer said.
"To be anti-Zionist, to not believe the Jewish people should have a state, is in my view a form of antisemitism,"
He added a second test. “If you believe every other people should have their own state, but the Jewish people should not, that is antisemitic.”
"If you believe every other people should have their own state, but the Jewish people should not, that is antisemitic,"
Schumer’s office had no immediate comment when asked about how that definition applies to Mamdani and El-Sayed.
Mamdani entered last year’s mayoral race already under fire for declining to say whether Israel should exist as a Jewish state. That dodge drew condemnation at the time. He has since described himself as a staunch critic of Israel, backed the BDS campaign, and accused the country of committing genocide in Gaza.
He skipped this year’s Salute to Israel Day Parade in New York. He has also called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
At a May 2025 event sponsored by the UJA-Federation, Mamdani offered a carefully worded assurance. “I believe Israel has a right to exist and it has a right to exist also with equal rights for all,” he said. He has separately insisted he supports Jewish New Yorkers and has “zero tolerance” for antisemitism or bigotry of any kind.
Last week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Netanyahu accused Mamdani of being an antisemite who fanned hatred and made the city less safe for Jews. Mamdani’s office offered no immediate comment on the clash with Schumer’s definition.
Abdul El-Sayed, running as a Democrat for Senate in Michigan, faced the same core question in a recent CNN interview with Kasie Hunt. He refused to accept the premise that Israel should exist as a Jewish state.
“I do not. I just dispute the idea that you should have an ethno-state,” El-Sayed said. He expanded the claim to other countries: “I dispute Egypt’s right to be an ethno-state, and Saudi Arabia’s right to be an ethno-state.”
He then tried to change the subject. “It’s interesting. Nobody has ever asked me if Palestinians have a right to exist,” he said. On funding, he went further: “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.”
El-Sayed also said, “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.” When pressed again, he answered, “The question of Israel’s existence is not a question. I’m not going to play this gotcha game.” The question that matters, he argued, is whether “everyone have equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination.”
His campaign had no immediate comment on Schumer’s remarks.
The New York Public Library hosted Schumer in May. Last week it hosted Benjamin Moser, an author whose book “Anti-Zionism, a Jewish History” is critical of Israel’s existence as a Jewish-led state. Moser likened the Jewish state to a “dog shelter.” The library has said it presents diverse viewpoints on contested topics.
Schumer’s definition leaves little room for that diversity inside his own party’s leadership lane. He tied antisemitism to the refusal to accept Jewish self-determination while every other people is granted the same right. Mamdani’s earlier refusal to affirm Israel as a Jewish state, his BDS support, his genocide accusation, and his parade snub sit uneasily beside that line. El-Sayed’s open rejection of a Jewish “ethno-state,” paired with talk of “genocide and apartheid,” collides with it outright.
Democratic voters and Jewish communities are left with two scripts. One comes from the Senate minority leader who wrote a book warning about antisemitism in America. The other comes from a big-city mayor and a Senate hopeful who treat Israel’s character as a Jewish state as negotiable, secondary, or illegitimate.
When a party’s top elected Democrat sets a clear test, and its rising stars fail it in public, the contradiction is not subtle. It is the record.
