SCOOP: Mamdani didn't invite us to meeting with rabbis, NY Board of Rabbis, Rabbinic Council of America tell JNS

The New York Board of Rabbis was not invited to a roundtable discussion held Monday between Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, and rabbis, a spokesman for the board said.

The board represents more than 750 rabbis across religious denominations in the New York area. The mayor's office announced the closed press meeting was scheduled for 3:45 p.m.

A board representative said of the mayor: "I don't know who he went through." The board stated: "He didn't go through us. We had nothing to do with it."

Mamdani has faced criticism from New York rabbis and Jewish organizations over his statements on Israel and his response to antisemitism in the city.

Rabbi Etan Tokayer, president of the Rabbinic Council of America, said he also did not receive an invitation. "Absent any context, I cannot say whether I would attend had I been invited," He said.

Tokayer said he sent a letter to the mayor's Jewish liaison several months earlier after reports that Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, had made "venomous antisemitic comments" In the past. "It was a strong but thoughtfully balanced note," He said. "I received no reply."