Silence is complicity? NYC Mayor Mamdani hijacks Oct. 7 mourning; Michigan Democrat refuses to choose between Israel and Iran

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Democrat Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed just can’t keep out of the headlines – and that never ends well for either of them.

The two prominent Democrats are currently involved in two disturbing controversies involving Israel. And one question is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: When political leaders refuse to draw clear moral distinctions involving the Jewish state, what message are they really sending? Sadly, the question is a bit rhetorical, and we know the answer.

In New York, Mamdani is facing blistering criticism after using the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre to launch another attack against Israel. Meanwhile, in Michigan, El-Sayed repeatedly refused to say whether Iran or Israel poses the greater threat to the United States. Yeah, seriously.

They are different circumstances, but they continue a troubling common thread. Sometimes what politicians refuse to say speaks louder than what comes out of their mouths. Silence is complicity. And sometimes a non-answer is the answer.

It goes without saying that Oct. 7 should be a solemn day of remembrance. Three years after Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, murdering approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, Jewish families were remembering the dead, the survivors and the horrors that forever changed their lives. But Mamdani apparently couldn’t allow that day to stand on its own.

His Oct. 7 statement briefly acknowledged Hamas’ atrocities before devoting considerably more attention to allegations against Israel, including accusations of genocide, apartheid and war crimes.

Think about that for a moment. There were 364 other days to criticize Israel. Yet on the one day dedicated to remembering the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the mayor of America’s largest city turned the spotlight back on the Jewish state. Oh, one more thing: the mayor’s statement never used the words “Jews” or “Jewish people.”

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt quickly condemned the mayor. “You are weaponizing a day meant for mourning the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to recycle your usual anti-zionist talking points,” he posted on social media.

Prominent New York Rabbi Marc Schneier was equally furious. “Mayor Mamdani cannot give Jewish New Yorkers even a single day to mourn without gaslighting us and appropriating the trauma of Oct. 7.”

Meanwhile, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, warned that Mamdani’s anniversary statement had consequences beyond political disagreement. “Turning this anniversary into an indictment of the Jewish state is not only hurtful, and deeply offensive, but it also makes Jewish New Yorkers less safe.”

The criticism wasn’t limited to conservative Jewish voices. Even liberal New York Magazine published an article headlined, “Mamdani Couldn’t Resist Attacking Israel in October 7 Statement.” Additionally, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon compared the mayor’s approach to using the anniversary of 9/11 to discuss al-Qaeda alongside the terrorist attack’s victims.

Why couldn’t Oct. 7 simply be about remembering Oct. 7? Instead, it was the opposite and Mamdani wasn’t backing down. At a Thursday news conference, he defended his statement, insisted there must be room to mourn Israelis and Palestinians alike, and then repeatedly accused Israel of genocide.

Hundreds of miles away, another controversy unfolded Thursday night during Michigan’s high-stakes Senate debate. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, facing Republican Mike Rogers, was pressed by the debate moderator to identify which country presented the greater danger to America: Israel or Iran.

It should have been a straightforward opportunity to explain where he stands. Instead, El-Sayed rejected the premise.

“That’s a ridiculous hypothetical,” he responded, arguing that Israel had pushed the United States into an unnecessary war with Iran. He went even further, questioning whether Israel should even be considered an American ally. “I don’t consider an ally a country that takes us to wars we don’t need to fight,” El-Sayed declared. He went on to characterize both countries as dangerous in different ways, pointing to Iran’s potential to attack America and Israel’s influence over American military decisions.

So just to be clear: Iran’s government has spent decades backing terrorist organizations, threatening Israel, confronting American interests and killing Americans.

Israel, by contrast, is a longstanding American security partner and fellow democracy, despite disagreements over its policies.

El-Sayed has every right to oppose U.S. involvement in military conflicts. He can criticize Israel’s government and question U.S. foreign aid. However, equating Iran and Israel seems both politically tone-deaf and morally repugnant at the same time.

Sadly, both El-Sayed in Michigan and Mayor Mamdani in New York don’t think they’ve done anything wrong or immoral in these situations. In fact, I’m sure they believe their actions are cloaked in truth and morality. That should speak volumes.