As Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller, weighs a widely expected run for mayor, Jewish community leaders are now raising concerns over his close ties to far-left activists and elected officials who have increasingly voiced anti-Israel rhetoric or faced charges of stoking antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

Lander, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the city and a self-described Democratic socialist, has long identified as a “progressive Zionist” who is sharply critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians — even as he has clarified that he does not support some of the more extreme positions of the radical left, most notably including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting the Jewish state.

But as Jewish leaders have witnessed a rise in antisemitic incidents stemming from protests in New York after Hamas’ attacks, Lander, 55, has drawn mounting scrutiny for continuing to align with some figures and groups advancing positions on Israel — such as BDS and anti-Zionism — that he claims not to share.

The tenuous balancing act has provoked questions among Jewish and pro-Israel activists in New York about Lander’s commitment to defending his views as he sets his sights on Gracie Mansion with support from the activist left.

“The problem I see with him is that he consistently tries to play both sides,” said Andrés Spokoiny, who resides in Lander’s old New York City Council district and has recently become engaged in local politics, in an interview with Jewish Insider. “If you want to have the backing of the mainstream Jewish community,” he stressed, “you have to not tone down but actively disavow people who have made us feel unsafe.”

Spokoiny, who leads the Jewish Funders Network but emphasized that he was speaking for himself, echoed many critics who spoke with JI in pointing to Lander’s affiliation with the nonprofit Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, which described the Oct. 7 attacks as “neither justifiable nor unprovoked,” as well as his recent support for Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who endorsed BDS and railed against what he called the “Zionist regime” before losing his seat in a bitter primary last month.

In local politics, Lander has cultivated a close relationship with Shahana Hanif, his successor in the City Council, who has faced backlash over her harsh views on Israel and her opposition to a widely backed resolution to establish an annual “End Jew Hatred Day.” Meanwhile, Lander’s long-standing friendship with Linda Sarsour, a Muslim activist who has drawn accusations of antisemitism, has also stirred controversy among Jewish leaders.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, Lander has not hesitated to condemn high-profile instances of antisemitism in New York, including vandalism last month at the homes of some of the Brooklyn Museum’s board members. Last October, he was among several politicians who spoke out against a pro-Hamas rally in Times Square that had been boosted by the Democratic Socialists of America — where he has long been a member.

Even as he distanced himself from the DSA, Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist in New York, said Lander has not done enough to rebuke the group as it has espoused extreme stances against Israel since Hamas’ attacks. “To many of us, he appeared to stay with them as long as he could — and in a way that was probably too long at the fair,” Reinish said in an interview with JI. “I think it would be good to hear a public explanation.”

In a 2019 opinion piece, Lander urged his progressive allies to “get more vigilant about combating antisemitism, and make more room on the left for those who support Israel’s right to exist,” arguing that “right-wing hypocrites have found a way to exploit our fault lines.”

Still, his critics allege that in recent months he has stopped short of drawing clear contrasts between his own self-described views and those on the left who are more forceful opponents of Israel — to the point that his personal sentiments have largely been neutralized.

“I think what happened was that his core became anti-Israel, and rather than try to pull them to the center, he basically said, ‘Well, I’m not going to adopt your views but I’m going to support you as individuals,’” said one Jewish leader in New York who has known Lander for several years. “There’s no meaningful difference to that.”

The Jewish leader, who spoke with JI anonymously to address a sensitive topic, said he has confronted Lander with such concerns and told him “he should be standing up on these issues.” Lander, he said, has insisted that the situation is “complicated” and that he is “in a tough spot” as he seeks to uphold working relationships while being “fair to all sides.”

“I told him. ‘Look, you’re not doing yourself any favors,’” the Jewish leader recalled of their talk, “‘because at the end of the day, you’re not going to have allies in the community.’”

Lander’s allies in the Jewish community say they appreciate his decision to call himself a progressive Zionist while also expressing criticism of the Israeli government when its actions do not align with his values.

The issues he is navigating are “indicative” of what Amy Spitalnick, a Brooklyn resident who serves as the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and has known Lander for several years, described as a “broader tension that exists within the progressive landscape when it comes to” debates over Israel. 

“How can we actually draw a very clear line between the far left that engages in eliminationist rhetoric, that doesn’t believe Israel has a right to exist, that has been deeply hurtful and worse since Oct. 7,” she said in an interview with JI, “and then progressives who we might disagree with but come at this from a fundamental place of humanity?”

Lander has “been able to draw that line, even if I don’t agree with every choice or every policy or every decision he’s made,” explained Spitalnick, who serves on the board of the New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive group co-founded by Lander. “He’s the one who self-identifies as a progressive Zionist and who has been showing up nearly every weekend at the Israelis for Peace Rally,” she said, referring to cease-fire demonstrations Lander has called “the place I feel very comfortable speaking out.”

Lander was unavailable for an interview before this story was published, a spokesperson for his office told JI on Friday.

Lander, who became comptroller in 2022, had been planning to announce a mayoral campaign last week until Vice President Kamala Harris’ surprise entry into the presidential race “blew it out,” according to a person familiar with the matter. He is now likely to launch his campaign this week, the person told JI on Friday, in what is increasingly shaping up to be a crowded primary to challenge Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who has faced growing legal troubles in recent months and frequently spars with Lander.

For his part, Lander envisions a viable path to the mayor’s office on the growing suspicion that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo will also mount a challenge to Adams, according to a person recently informed of the comptroller’s thinking. If Cuomo joins the race, Lander believes he would have a better chance at a potential upset as the progressive favorite alongside two moderates who could split the vote, the person said.

A spokesperson for Cuomo declined to comment on Friday, referring JI to a recent interview where the former governor said he had “no current plans” to run for office again. Two sources familiar with the matter said that Cuomo intends to announce a challenge to Adams, likely later this year, though others relayed that his decision will hinge on the mayor’s legal situation, which remains in flux. 

Either way, Lander is likely to face competition to his left as Zellnor Myrie, a progressive state senator, openly explores a campaign, and other left-leaning lawmakers are reportedly weighing bids, including state Sens. Jessica Ramos and Zohran Mamdani, the latter of whom is among the most outspoken critics of Israel in Albany. 

Scott Stringer, the former comptroller, is also now raising funds for a challenge, after a failed mayoral bid last cycle in which he faced backlash from the Jewish community for courting support from some legislators who had endorsed the BDS movement.

During his time as comptroller, where he has promoted a range of progressive policies as the city’s chief accountant, Lander has continued to oversee pension fund investments in Israeli bonds, even as he has recently faced pressure from several City Council staffers calling to divest from all Israeli holdings. Before assuming office, Lander criticized the state comptroller’s divestment from Univever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, over the ice cream maker’s controversial decision to stop selling its products in what it called “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

In an interview with JI during his campaign for comptroller in 2021, Lander said he believed that U.S. aid to Israel “should be made conditional” and should “not be funding occupation,” but he clarified that “there is a big difference between foreign policy and business or investment.”

Still, “to the extent that part of what you have is a public platform for speaking about what you think is important, both in your office but in other ways that matter in public life,” he explained at the time, “I will do it.”

While his relationships with anti-Israel activists have faced criticism, Lander’s own views on Israel and its ongoing war with Hamas have also created tensions within the Jewish community. Even as he has argued that Israel “has the right and need to defend itself,” as he wrote in an essay weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, his early calls for a cease-fire and vocal opposition to Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza have aggravated many Jewish leaders in the city.

Last November, for instance, Lander spoke at an event held at a Holocaust memorial in San Juan, Puerto Rico, while attending the annual Somos conference of New York’s political class, according to an organizer who accepted his request to join the ceremony but asked that he not “get political” in his remarks to the audience — a warning the organizer said he did not heed.

“No one else is really referring to Gaza or anything like that, but of course he has to mention that,” the organizer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the event, told JI last week. “People were turned off.”

Afterward, the organizer recalled speaking with Lander about his decision to align with critics of Israel such as Hanif, whose views on Middle East policy he has not publicly countered. “He said to me, ‘You know, Shahana and I, we agree on so many things, but we’re in strong disagreement on Israel,’” said the organizer, who is actively involved in local Jewish politics. “He’s like, ‘I’ve tried to talk to her many times, but I don’t think I can get through to her on that.’”

The organizer concluded from their conversation that Lander is “politically fluid” on such issues, even as he valued what he called “very honest” private remarks.

A spokesperson for Hanif did not respond to a request for comment from JI on Sunday evening. 

As he has ascended to the upper ranks of New York City government, Lander has also grown alienated from the sizable and politically influential Orthodox community, whose support is highly coveted among mayoral candidates. When he ran for City Council in 2009, Lander was particularly active in his outreach to Orthodox voters in Brooklyn, said one prominent community leader who has known the comptroller for years. But Lander is less engaged now and “very rarely” appears at events, the Orthodox leader said. 

“I think he still looks at people as friends, but he knows that he’s in a much different place now,” the Orthodox leader, who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly about Lander, told JI. “He just completely identified with the far left, and people saw that,” he said, noting that Lander’s positions on policing have drawn the most scrutiny from voters. “He’s taken positions that are way to the left of the community.”

Recent independent polling suggests that Lander, who lives in Park Slope, has low name recognition across the city. The polling, which was described to JI by a source familiar with the data, showed that nearly half of respondents had never heard of him. His total positive name ID was at 21%, with 16% of voters viewing Lander unfavorably, the source said. 

Chris Coffey, a Democratic consultant, said he suspects that Lander’s “entry will make Israel an issue in the mayor’s race” and that “traditional ‘pro-Israel’ voters will be deeply skeptical,” adding that his potential candidacy will be “an opening for independent expenditures.”

“On the flip side,” he told JI, “progressive folks will be revved up by his entry, and they will go to the mats. We’ll see how it shakes out.”