FLASHBACK: Zohran Mamdani says ‘Israel is not a place’ and ‘not a country’

Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is once again raising eyebrows, this time over a resurfaced clip in which he says, “Israel is not a place, it is not a country.”

Mamdani, who as the Democratic nominee is considered the frontrunner for mayor of the city with the highest Jewish population in the U.S., has been criticized for his stance against Israel and refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which is widely considered a call for violence against Jews.

Now he is being slammed for statements he made during a January 2024 panel discussion on Palestinian solidarity in which he called into question American politicians’ support for the state of Israel. 

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During the panel, Mamdani referred to the pro-Israel movement in America as a “political apparatus that is still well-funded, quite strong, but is increasingly becoming more and more separated from public sentiment.”

He criticized American politicians for supporting Israel’s war against Gaza, saying, “That speaks to the fact that … for so many people, Israel is not a place, it is not a country. It’s an idea.

“You see that in so many politicians’ answers to the questions around Israel … their answers were written around 20, 30 years ago. They speak to a reality that does not exist.”

Mamdani also criticized the idea that Israel and Palestine could exist as separate political entities.

“They [American politicians] pledge fealty to the idea of a two-state solution, irrespective of the fact that a second state for Palestinians is physically impossible because it’s not even a contiguous piece of land at this moment between where Palestinians live. So, that all tells us that there is this disconnect,” he said.

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He also went on to say that there is a “fear amongst the political class across this country of a discourse that is rising that seeks to question this convention.”

Dating back to his college days, Mamdani has expressed support for a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, which Influence Watch describes as “an international campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel as the expression of the Jewish people’s right to national self-determination by isolating the country economically through consumer boycotts, business and government withdrawal of investment, and legal sanctions.”

In another recently resurfaced video of Mamdani from 2021, the mayoral candidate highlighted his commitment to BDS.

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“I think there is nothing that’s too banal to stand up against the brutality of the occupation and apartheid,” he said. “And, so, you know, if it’s a shipping container or if it is a university that is being funded, a university that helped to develop IDF’s weapons technology, or it is an event with an Israeli ambassador, whatever it may be, I think that we have to showcase what that solidarity looks like.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.