One of Israel’s most polarizing lawmakers — Ahmad Tibi, a member of the Knesset who describes himself as Palestinian-Israeli and once served as an adviser to Yasser Arafat — urged New Yorkers to “Go Zohran!” on Monday, hailing socialist mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani as a “symbol of unity, tolerance, and hope.”
Tibi, who chairs the Israeli-Arab Ta’al (Arab Movement for Renewal) party, posted a video to social media Monday announcing his endorsement of Mamdani — whom he hailed as a symbol of “hope.”
“I want to express my appreciation and support for candidate Zohran Mamdani on the eve of the New York elections,” Tibi said, describing the socialist assemblyman as “a young, eloquent visionary who brings a fresh spirit of social justice and universal values to the race.”
“Zohran is a leader who unites all of the city’s communities — Christians, Muslims, and Jews — around him, thanks to his honesty, courage, and public commitment,” he continued. “Despite the racist and Islamophobic attacks he’s faced, he continues to stand firm, speaking out against hate and discrimination, and representing a simple but important idea: everyone is equal and worthy.”
Tibi concluded his appeal by calling Mamdani “a symbol of unity, tolerance, and hope for all New Yorkers,” adding in both English and Arabic, “Haideh Zohran! Go Zohran! Ila al-Amam — onwards — Zohran Mamdani!”
The endorsement — unusual and unexpected coming from a sitting Arab-Israeli lawmaker and former adviser to Yasser Arafat — was posted to Tibi’s social accounts on Monday, with early voting already underway since Saturday and in-person voting continuing through Election Day, November 4.
Tibi’s praise for “unity” struck many observers as deeply ironic, given his past. Before entering the Knesset, the Arab-Israeli physician served as Arafat’s political adviser from 1993 to 1999, years defined by the Oslo process’s collapse into violence. Arafat has long been described as “the father of modern terrorism,” credited with pioneering airplane hijackings and suicide bombings. The Second Intifada (Arabic for “uprising”), the violent Palestinian campaign from late 2000 to 2005, left more than 1,100 Israelis dead, most of them civilians, amid waves of suicide attacks on buses, cafés, and markets.
Tibi’s own record has repeatedly drawn censure. In 2012, the Knesset Ethics Committee reprimanded him over a Ramallah address praising “martyrs,” saying his remarks could be read as sympathy for terror — a characterization he denied. In April 2024, Tibi petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court for access to convicted Palestinian terrorists in prison — including Fatah commander Marwan Barghouti, a leader of both the First and Second Intifadas, who is serving multiple life sentences for orchestrating deadly attacks.
Earlier in his career, Tibi met Arafat in Tunis (when such contact was illegal) and went on to serve as his adviser throughout the 1990s. His admiration never faded. In August 2015, he marked Arafat’s 86th birthday on Facebook: “Today, August 4 — the 86th birthday of the great symbol Yasser Arafat. The leader of a nation, the story of a revolution. How I miss you.” When sworn in as an MK in 1999, he stood silent during Israel’s anthem, later explaining he pledged allegiance to the State of Israel but that the lyrics “don’t speak to me” — framing himself as “a Palestinian Arab citizen of the State of Israel.”
Mamdani’s record collides with Tibi’s “unity” script. The Democratic Socialist assemblyman has refused to denounce calls to “globalize the intifada,” accused the United States on Qatari TV of “bankrolling genocide,” and campaigned with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — a photo-op 9/11 attorney Michael Barasch said, “insults every single person in the 9/11 community.”
On Friday, while condemning a radio segment as “Islamophobic,” Mamdani cast himself as the target — claiming a family “aunt” was mistreated after 9/11 because she feared wearing a hijab on the subway. Subsequent reporting identified the relative as his father’s second cousin, not an aunt, undercutting the narrative he used to frame criticism as “Islamophobic.”
Polls lay bare New York’s deep divide — with Mamdani’s support driven largely by foreign-born voters, while more than a quarter of residents say they would consider leaving the city if he wins.
Republicans have slammed Democrats for backing Mamdani; House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) charged that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) “now owns EVERYTHING Mamdani stands for.”
As voting continues, the contrast is stark: a Palestinian-Israeli lawmaker who once advised Arafat — reprimanded for praising “martyrs” and petitioning to visit convicted terrorists as recently as April 2024 — now publicly endorses a candidate whose record and associations have drawn criticism for ties to extremist figures.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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