Leftist activist and longtime Mamdani ally Linda Sarsour said she plans to hold New York’s new socialist mayor accountable if he fails to meet his campaign promises — though she emphasized she will not join his administration.
Jewish organizations have long criticized Sarsour for alleged anti-Israel rhetoric and claims that she excluded Zionists from progressive movements. Critics argue that her connection to Mamdani’s campaign underscores these concerns.
A foreign intelligence report alleged that Sarsour has served as a mentor to Mamdani.
“His reliance on Linda Sarsour as a mentor, and her own allegiance to Siraj Wahhaj, situates Mamdani within the ideological chain of influence extending from Wahhaj’s radical teachings to the political sphere of New York City,” the report stated, according to the New York Post.
Sarsour said she will operate outside City Hall rather than within it.
“I just want you all to know I’m not going to work for the Zohran administration,” she said. “I’m not going to work in City Hall, because, guess what? There gotta be people like me willing to stay outside. Our friends on the inside need people on the outside to hold them accountable. To say, ‘We see you. We’re paying attention.’”
Pro-Israel advocates say Sarsour’s influence on Mamdani raises concerns.
“Linda Sarsour is an absolutist, committed to the destruction of the State of Israel with every fiber of her being,” one critic said. “Zohran Mamdani’s brand of socialism is intertwined with, and indistinguishable from, Linda’s and certainly a reflection of her decades of work to delegitimize Israel.”
That concern intensified immediately after Mamdani’s election. The New York Post reported that New York City Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker, the department’s first Jewish leader in years, submitted his resignation less than 24 hours after Mamdani’s victory.
Tucker, a philanthropist and security executive, informed City Hall he would step down on December 19, just as he was scheduled to depart for Israel for meetings with that country’s fire commissioner. His abrupt exit underscored growing unease among Jewish officials over Mamdani’s record and his ties to figures such as Sarsour, whose rhetoric has drawn accusations of antisemitism.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Mamdani has faced criticism from Democrat mayors across the country, including Houston Mayor John Whitmire, for his comments on Israel and his leadership approach.
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