Alan Dershowitz calls Jewish Mamdani voters 'self-haters' in radio interview

“Any Jew who votes for [New York City Mayor Zohran] Mamdani is a self-hater,” Harvard law professor and attorney Alan Dershowitz said Friday during an interview on Zev Brenner’s Talkline Network radio broadcast.

He made his comments during a discussion about Mamdani and local politics, specifically focusing on a controversy surrounding Mamdani’s decision to not appoint any Jewish lawyer to a judicial commission.

Citing broader concerns surrounding the administration, Dershowitz, who is Jewish, said: “We know he’s an antisemite, we know his wife is an antisemite, we know his father has had all kinds of problems with Jews as well. So, look, he’s a bigot.”

He expressed deep frustration with Jewish residents in the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Park Slope neighborhoods who voted for Mamdani.

“Seven thousand Jews voted for Adolf Hitler in 1932,” Dershowitz said, and “most of them ended up in the gas chambers.”

“These idiot Jews” who voted for Mamdani “have no idea what they’re doing,” he said.

“Some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met are Jews from Park Slope and Upper East Side and Upper West Side who don’t understand where their own interests lie,” he added.

Members of the Jewish community cannot support a political figure who “marginalizes Jews, discriminates against Jews, hates Israel, [and] calls Israel a genocidal state falsely,” Dershowitz said.

“No self-respecting Jews” would do that, because it undermines the safety and collective interests of the Jewish community, he said.

Mamdani has 'played the game'

Regarding Mamdani’s rhetoric about arresting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Dershowitz said: “If he tries to interfere with Netanyahu in any way, that violates the federal criminal statute,” because any “direct interference with policy and with guests of the United States constitutes a crime.”

While Mamdani has “played the game” and “likes to milk it” by encouraging protests, “he knows he can’t arrest Netanyahu,” and “if he did, he’d get arrested himself,” he said, adding that Mamdani is “still calling for the United States to arrest Netanyahu,” even though, “of course, they will never do that, because Netanyahu did nothing wrong, and Israel did nothing wrong.”

During the interview, Dershowitz said the Jewish community must look beyond single election cycles and focus on long-term structural organization. While mobilization on Election Day is critical, the Jewish community needs an ongoing, sustained approach that involves schools, yeshivas, rabbis, and local organizations, he said.

Dershowitz recommended early civic participation. Young people can register to vote as early as age 16, which allows them to be properly positioned to cast ballots once they reach voting age, he said.

By integrating voter registration drives directly into educational institutions and community centers, the Jewish community can better protect its interests and ensure its collective voice is effectively represented in local and national politics, Dershowitz said.