Former Chicago Mayor and former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel says he confronted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over the mayor’s views on Israel during a lengthy private meeting, though Mamdani’s communications director is disputing that the exchange ever took place.
Emanuel made the remarks during a Wednesday appearance on the “Unholy Podcast,” which features the tagline “Two Jews on the News.” During the interview, the hosts asked Emanuel about a reported 90-minute meeting he recently had with Mamdani and what the two discussed.
According to Emanuel, most of the meeting focused on the realities of serving as mayor and the demands that come with running a major city. He said roughly 75 minutes were devoted to sharing his experience in office and discussing how a mayor must prioritize competing issues.
The remaining portion of the conversation, Emanuel said, centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Mamdani’s outspoken views on the issue.
Recalling the discussion, Emanuel said he stressed that the responsibilities of leading a city require difficult choices about where to devote time and attention.
“When you’re mayor, time goes faster, and you’ve got to make choices: what’s an ‘A,’ what’s a ‘B,’” Emanuel said he told Mamdani before the conversation turned toward the Middle East.
Emanuel said he then addressed Mamdani directly over the phrase “from the river to the sea,” which has been at the center of debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
According to Emanuel, he acknowledged their different backgrounds before explaining why he objected to the slogan.
“Look, you are your father’s son. I’m my father’s son,” Emanuel said he told Mamdani, who is a first-generation immigrant from Uganda and a Shia Muslim. Emanuel said he then told the mayor that chanting “a river to the sea” means there would never be a Jewish homeland for Jews who had endured the Holocaust.
Emanuel said he concluded his remarks with a forceful message.
“I want you to hear this,” he recalled saying. “Over my dead body.”
Mamdani has been an outspoken critic of Israel and has repeatedly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The New York City mayor previously called for Netanyahu’s arrest, referring to the Israeli leader as a “war criminal.”
Mamdani later walked back that threat after apparently learning that he did not have the legal authority to carry out such an action.
The comments described by Emanuel quickly drew a response from Mamdani’s office.
In a post responding to the podcast clip on Wednesday, Mamdani’s communications director, Anna Bahr, rejected Emanuel’s account of the conversation.
Bahr said the exchange Emanuel described never occurred, implying that the former Chicago mayor’s version of events was false. She did not provide any additional details or elaborate on her statement.
The conflicting accounts leave Emanuel and Mamdani’s office offering sharply different versions of what took place during the private meeting, with Emanuel maintaining he challenged the mayor over his views on Israel and Mamdani’s communications director insisting the confrontation never happened.
