President Trump and Jewish advocates slammed Mayor Zohran Mamdani Tuesday for hosting anti-Israel activist and accused Hamas sympathizer Mahmoud Khalil at Gracie Mansion for Ramadan.
“No one should be feting the anti-American, pro-terrorist activities of Mahmoud Khalil, who made his name as a ringleader of violent anti-American and anti-Semitic university protests that harmed American foreign policy interests,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Post in a statement.
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Moshe Spern, president of the United Jewish Teachers, said, “The mayor of New York City openly promoting someone who went out of his way to harass Jewish students at Columbia on a government social media account is a clear sign of disrespect to the Jewish community.
“This is beginning to feel purposeful and an unfortunate signal that Jewish safety in this city isn’t a priority at all,” Spern, a city public high school teacher, said.
Others said the get-together at the mayoral residence on Monday night should come as no surprise since Mamdani made his own Israel-bashing positions known during last year’s campaign.
“Mamdani is a true believer … He supports terrorism through his actions and who he invites over for dinner,” charged former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism.
“It gets worse and worse,” Hikind said. “We’re stuck with this guy for the next four years.”
At a recent White House meeting, Mamdani gave President Trump and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, a list of four students detained by ICE in New York, asking for his help dismissing those cases. Khalil’s name was on the list.
But the White House salvo Tuesday indicates Trump won’t support Khalil.
Trump did agree to release another Columbia University student on the list, Elaina Aghayeva following Mamdani’s appeal.
Khalil, a Syrian-born activist and former Columbia University grad student who participated in anti-Israel campus protests, made disturbing comments about the Oct. 7, 2023, slaughter of Israelis by Hamas, calling it an unavoidable moment justified by the terror group’s “struggle.”
He was arrested by ICE early last year, and faces deportation after the Trump administration accused him of committing fraud on his green card application.
The White House, which claims Khalil is a Hamas supporter, is attempting to use a rarely deployed statute that allows for non-citizens to be deported if their beliefs could pose a threat to US foreign policy interests.
But Khalil has become a darling of the political left, which claims Trump is seeking to deport him for exercising his First Amendment right to speak his mind.
“Last night, as we marked the one year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor [his wife], and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together,” Mamdani wrote in a Monday Instagram post.
The mayor included a photo of the celebration, showing his wife, Rama Duwaji, holding a plate of food while standing next to a seated Khalil, who was enjoying his meal with a giant smile.
Last week, it was revealed that Duwaji liked a celebratory Instagram post on the day of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that shared images from the murderous assault on Israel.
The Jewish civil rights group StopAntisemitism wrote Monday night: “NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani breaking bread with one of the city’s most vile antisemites, Mahmoud Khalil.
“By the way, he should already have been deported back to Syria.”