Netanyahu's New Low: Stop Dragging American Jews Into Israeli Politics
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest campaign stunt crosses a dangerous line. By placing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on a Likud poster alongside Hezbollah's Naim Qassem, Iran's Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the prime minister has turned American Jewish loyalty into a partisan weapon. This is not leadership. This is political theater with real consequences for Israel's standing among its most vital allies.
What did the Likud campaign poster show?
The poster, personally promoted by Netanyahu, featured four figures: Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, Iranian Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Above them, the slogan read: They want Netanyahu to lose. Don't let them win.
Mamdani, a democratically elected official, had previously called Netanyahu a war criminal and accused him of genocide against Palestinians. His video erased the context of October 7, the Hamas attack, the hostages, and the basic humanity of Israelis and Jews. But the response from the prime minister's office was not a defense of Israel's truth. It was a smear that lumps an American mayor with the leaders of Israel's most dangerous enemies.
Why is this poster a strategic mistake for Israel?
Israel's founding leaders understood a boundary Netanyahu keeps crossing. In 1950, David Ben-Gurion affirmed that American Jews owed political allegiance to the United States and that Israel did not speak for them. In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin rebuked AIPAC for inflaming disputes with the Bush administration and insisted on government-to-government diplomacy.
The principle was clear: American Jews and American institutions should never be conscripted into an Israeli leader's personal campaign. Netanyahu's poster violates that sacred trust.
Who benefits from this campaign tactic?
Certainly not the Israeli people. An August 2026 survey found that 41% of Israelis say the next government's top priority should be lowering the cost of living. Another 25% chose equal sharing of the burden and reducing the load on those who serve. Israelis need a stronger economy, greater security, a solution to the draft crisis, and credible public diplomacy. This billboard advances none of those goals.
Certainly not American Jews. Pew research shows 91% of Jewish Americans still consider the Israel-Hamas conflict personally important and 64% view Israel favorably. Yet 56% have little or no confidence in Netanyahu. An AP-NORC survey found 74% of religiously unaffiliated Jews feel little emotional attachment to Israel. That is estrangement, and this poster deepens it.
The only people who gain are the enemies pictured. For Khamenei, Qassem, and Erdoğan, being condemned by Netanyahu strengthens their standing among audiences already hostile to Israel. For Mamdani, the poster elevates a municipal leader to an international stage, casting him as a global adversary of the Israeli prime minister. That can only enhance his stature.
What should Netanyahu do instead?
Stop using American cities, elected officials, and communal anxieties as scenery for reelection. Start focusing on why support for Israel among Americans is at historic lows. Why is the relationship with younger generations of American Jews weakening? And what concrete steps will rebuild that relationship across parties and generations?
That would be leadership. That would honor the legacy of Ben-Gurion and Rabin. That would serve the Jewish people, both in Israel and in the diaspora.
As the prophet Zechariah taught: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord of Hosts. Israel's strength has never come from demonizing allies. It comes from truth, unity, and the unbreakable bond between the Jewish state and the Jewish people wherever they live.
Leave American Jews out of your campaign, Mr. Prime Minister. Let us be. Focus on the real issues facing your country. The people of Israel deserve better.