JTA — Watching a train wreck in real time, while mesmerizing, is never fun. It can, however, be educational.

By encouraging New Yorkers to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he next comes to Gotham to address the UN General Assembly, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is preparing the ground for yet another opportunity to showcase anti-Israelism and antisemitism in their most radical forms.

I’ve protested against Netanyahu’s previous visits to the city. But there is absolutely no reason for any of us who want to push for a more just Israel to collaborate in protests next month, and every reason to stay far, far away from them.

Many if not most lifelong liberal Zionists, myself among them, are outraged, bordering on horrified, by the disastrous policies of the Netanyahu government. Our commitment was and is to the simultaneously Jewish and democratic State of Israel envisioned in its Declaration of Independence. While recognizing Israel’s obligation to eliminate Hamas as an existential threat, we empathize with the continued suffering of the civilian population of Gaza. And we categorically condemn the violence perpetrated by Israeli — read Jewish — settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

But for Mamdani, a good number of us would probably have wanted to express our anger publicly on........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)