New York's incoming mayor has been dodging accusations of antisemitism for months.
He just found the perfect Hollywood prop to help clean up his image.
And Mandy Patinkin just handed Zohran Mamdani the perfect Hanukkah photo op that has Jewish New Yorkers calling it exactly what it is: a staged performance.
Hollywood Radical Gives Political Cover to Anti-Israel Mayor
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist who will become New York City's first Muslim mayor on January 1, shared a Hanukkah video featuring actor Mandy Patinkin and his family lighting candles and celebrating the holiday.
"It was such a joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son, Gideon," Mamdani wrote on social media.¹
The video racked up over one million views on X, but Jewish New Yorkers weren't buying what Mamdani was selling.
Critics immediately pointed out the staggering hypocrisy of Mamdani celebrating Hanukkah, a holiday commemorating Jewish fighters reclaiming Jerusalem and rededicating the Temple after defeating foreign occupiers in the second century BCE.²
"Chanukah marks the re-dedication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem after winning a war against Syrian Greek occupiers to restore Jewish sovereignty over Israel," commentator Joel M. Petlin wrote. "That's what Zohran Mamdani and the Patinkin family just celebrated together, though they probably don't realize it."³
Patinkin wasn't exactly a random celebrity choice. The Princess Bride actor has been on a tear against Israel, calling the first Trump administration a "cancer that affects the world globally" and blaming Jews for the Gaza war.⁴
In July, Patinkin told The New York Times that Jews who "allow this to happen to children and civilians of all ages in Gaza" are acting in an "unconscionable and unthinkable" manner.⁵
Mamdani's Record On Jews Speaks For Itself
The timing of this staged photo op couldn't be more transparent.
Mamdani refused to condemn the chant "globalize the intifada," a phrase glorifying violent uprisings against Israel.⁶ The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum called his defense of the phrase "outrageous and especially offensive to survivors."⁷
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) labeled Mamdani a "raging antisemite" and "communist."⁸
The Anti-Defamation League announced it was setting up a special project to monitor Mamdani's administration for actions "that impact Jewish community safety and security," including a citywide tip line for reporting antisemitic incidents.⁹
And just last week, one of the few appointees Mamdani had named — Catherine Almonte Da Costa, his director of appointments — resigned after resurfaced social media posts showed her mocking "money-hungry Jews."¹⁰
Mamdani has pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City.¹¹ He's called Israel's war against Hamas a "genocide" on Qatari state TV.¹² He praised the "Holy Land Five," heads of an Islamic charity organization convicted of aiding Hamas.¹³
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, described Mamdani as a "trojan horse" for a dangerous alliance of communists and Islamists who would "burn the castle down."¹⁴
So Mamdani found Mandy Patinkin, a Jewish actor who spends his time attacking Israel and comparing Jews who support the war to people committing atrocities against their own ancestors.
"We're not fooled, Zohran!" one X user wrote. "You were raised by an actress, and you posed with an actor, and you both delivered a script. Of course, you wouldn't visit an ordinary Jewish family's home. This is another shameful staged performance."¹⁵
Author Avi Benlolo, Chairman of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative, put it plainly: "The very essence of Chanukah is resistance against people who reject Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. Mandy should know better."¹⁶
Mamdani can light all the candles he wants. He can pose with every radical leftist Jewish actor in Hollywood. Jewish New Yorkers with 1.3 million members of their community living in the city aren't fooled by a staged photo op. They know exactly who Zohran Mamdani is and what he stands for.
This is all so over the top it starts to sound like a psyop.
When actual debate could take place about how much of Americans’ money the government sends out of the country you have to wonder whether you’re looking at controlled opposition in folks like Mamdani when he partners with Patinkin on stunts like this.
Now, what day is it?
¹ Zohran Mamdani, X post, December 2025.
² "Hanukkah," Wikipedia, December 2025.
³ Joel M. Petlin, X post, December 2025.
⁴ Joshua Klein, "Mamdani Criticized for 'Staged' Hanukkah Clip," Breitbart, December 21, 2025.
⁵ David Marchese, "The Interview," The New York Times Magazine, July 12, 2025.
⁶ "NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani criticized for 'intifada' remarks," NBC News, June 25, 2025.
⁷ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, X post, June 2025.
⁸ Rep. Elise Stefanik, public statement, 2025.
⁹ "Why the Anti-Defamation League wants to monitor Zohran Mamdani," NPR, November 7, 2025.
¹⁰ "A top Zohran Mamdani appointee resigns due to old antisemitic posts," CNN, December 18, 2025.
¹¹ "What Zohran Mamdani has actually said about Jews, Israel and antisemitism," The Forward, July 2, 2025.
¹² Joshua Klein, Breitbart, December 21, 2025.
¹³ "What NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has actually said," The Times of Israel, November 5, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ X user post, December 2025.
¹⁶ Avi Benlolo, X post, December 2025.
