Open gallery view
Andrew Yang, Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, at a campaign event in Queens, N.Y., last week.Credit: SHANNON STAPLETON/ REUTERS
Shanna Fuld
May. 20, 2021 5:33 PM
As New York City residents prepare to vote in the mayoral primary elections next month, foreign policy may play an outsize role in the candidates they choose. Though the mayor’s only role is to govern the five boroughs, some in the city’s Jewish and Muslim communities are fiercely reviewing how candidates respond to the current flare-up between Israel and Gaza.
Candidate Andrew Yang, a tech entrepreneur and early frontrunner in the race, bore the brunt of the recent tension. On May 11, as clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in Jerusalem reached their peak and Gaza militant groups began their rocket fire on Israel, Yang Tweeted: “I’m standing with the people of Israel who are coming under bombardment attacks, and condemn the Hamas terrorists. The people of N.Y.C. will always stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel who face down terrorism and persevere.”