CNN analyst Van Jones criticized New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s explosive victory speech, saying the newly elected Democratic socialist’s tone and demeanor were a complete departure from the calm and approachable image he projected during his campaign.
Mamdani, 34, delivered an impassioned and fiery address Tuesday night after securing a narrow win, celebrating what he called a mandate for sweeping progressive change while taking verbal jabs at President Trump. His speech, filled with intensity and volume, drew immediate reactions from political observers who said it clashed sharply with his usual composed style.
Jones, speaking live on CNN, remarked that the shift in tone was hard to ignore.
“I think he missed an opportunity. I think the Mamdani that we saw in the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present in that speech,” Jones told a post-election CNN panel.
The former Obama administration adviser described the speech as abrasive and overbearing.
“I think his tone was sharp. I think he was using the microphone in a way that he was almost yelling. That’s not the Mamdani that we’ve seen on Tiktok and the great interviews and stuff like that.”
He went on to say the new mayor’s approach could alienate those still uncertain about his leadership.
“I felt like it was a little bit of a character switch here,” he continued, noting that the once “warm, open, embracing guy” had seemingly vanished.
Jones cautioned that Mamdani’s energy, while understandable, might have overshadowed his chance to build broader unity on election night.
“There are a lot of people trying to figure out, ‘Can I get on this train with him or not? Is he going to include me? Is he going to be more of a class warrior even in office?’ I think he missed a chance tonight to open up and bring more people into the tent,” he said.
Still, Jones acknowledged Mamdani’s historic accomplishment and potential for growth.
“He’s very young and he just pulled off something very, very difficult. I wouldn’t write him off, but I think he missed an opportunity to open himself up tonight and I think that that will probably cost him going forward.”
Mamdani, who will serve as New York’s first Muslim, first South Asian, and first socialist mayor, declared victory about two hours after the polls closed. The city’s Board of Elections reported that he won 50.4% of the vote, compared to independent candidate Andrew Cuomo’s 42%, with nearly all precincts counted.
In his 20-minute address, Mamdani embraced his identity and ideology while mocking traditional political expectations.
“The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate. I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this,” Mamdani declared.
He concluded his speech by claiming a decisive mandate for transformation in New York City.
“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city that we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.”
{Matzav.com}
Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech may have promised a “free and fair” New York City, but behind the slogans lies a towering price tag. His far-left platform—brimming with giveaways, expansions, and redistributions—could cost the city over $10 billion and dramatically reshape its economy, government, and social order, the NY Post reports.
The Democratic socialist’s pledge to create a more “affordable” city has captivated progressives and unsettled economists alike, as investors and business leaders brace for an overhaul unlike any in modern New York history.
At the heart of Mamdani’s plan is a sweeping “tax-the-rich” agenda. He wants to raise taxes on millionaires by 2% and push the corporate tax rate up to 11.5%, a move his campaign claims could generate $9 billion. Yet even Mamdani admits that a mayor cannot raise taxes alone — he’ll need the cooperation of state legislators and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has repeatedly warned that higher taxes would “only drive the wealthy and businesses out of the city.”
Hochul, running for re-election in 2026, has vowed to fund progressive goals without burdening the rich, though she hasn’t specified how. Mamdani, meanwhile, has signaled some flexibility, saying, “If this money is funded by the additional taxes or it’s funded by a better-than-expected (tax) assessment, or it’s funded by a pot of money that wasn’t previously spoken about, or savings that have come in, then the most important thing is that it’s funded.”
Among Mamdani’s boldest ideas is a citywide rent freeze. While his slogan “Freeze the rent” captured headlines, his plan would only affect rent-stabilized apartments—roughly two million tenants. Mamdani says he’ll appoint allies to the Rent Guidelines Board to block rent increases, just as Bill de Blasio’s administration did multiple times. Supporters say it will help struggling tenants; critics warn it will push landlords to take apartments off the market, deepening the housing crisis.
Andrew Cuomo has scoffed at Mamdani’s ability to enforce such a freeze, arguing that it’s up to the board, not the mayor. Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams has reportedly sought to fill the same board with his own appointees to block the initiative.
Mamdani’s “free and fast” bus plan is another progressive showpiece. As a state assemblyman, he piloted a fare-free MTA program for five bus lines, which he claimed boosted ridership and safety. He now wants to extend it across the city — a $700 million expansion — to make public transit accessible to low-income riders.
The Washington Post was scathing, predicting, “Vagrants and drug addicts would camp out all day on New York’s buses, especially in the winter.” Even MTA Chairman Janno Lieber cast doubt on the feasibility, saying it would be “more expensive and harder to pull off than advertised.”
Perhaps Mamdani’s most ambitious promise is universal childcare — a $6 billion undertaking that would make early education free for all city families. Hochul has voiced partial support, hinting at collaboration but rejecting his proposed “tax-the-rich” funding mechanism. Mamdani also wants to spend $20 million annually to distribute “baby baskets” of essentials like diapers, wipes, and nursing supplies to the city’s 125,000 newborns each year.
The socialist mayor’s vision also includes city-owned grocery stores, five in total, one per borough, offering wholesale-priced goods. Mamdani says this would counter rising food prices and help low-income families. But small grocers and billionaires alike — including Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis — have derided the plan as a “Soviet-style disaster” that could crush private business. Past experiments in other states, critics note, have been short-lived failures.
Rounding out Mamdani’s agenda is a proposed $1 billion Department of Community Safety, meant to take over many duties now handled by police. The new agency would oversee mental health emergencies and expand “gun violence interrupter” programs, with Mamdani insisting, “The effort would free up cops to do actual police work instead of dealing with the failures of the social safety net.”
He stresses that the department wouldn’t defund the NYPD but would instead allow officers to focus on crime prevention. Yet law enforcement experts warn that police would still end up responding to dangerous calls, making the new agency costly and redundant.
With his blend of idealism and fiscal gamble, Mamdani’s New York could usher in an era of sweeping social reform—or a financial crisis in socialist wrapping. For now, the only certainty is that “free” won’t come cheap.
{Matzav.com}
Ariel Shamai, a talmid of Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, was released from Military Prison 10 in Beit Lid on Wednesday, five days earlier than scheduled.
His release came in the middle of the levayah of Rebbetzin Leah Feiga Sorotzkin a”h, the mother of his rosh yeshivah, Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, who had passed away earlier that morning.
Shamai had been imprisoned for not enrolling in the army. His arrest drew widespread outrage throughout the Torah world and turned him into a powerful symbol of resistance against the attempts to coerce yeshiva students into army service.
He was the first student from a mainstream yeshiva—the Ateres Shlomo network led by Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin—to be jailed for Torah study. His imprisonment galvanized the Olam HaTorah.
Rav Sorotzkin moved heaven and earth to secure his student’s release, even cutting short a trip to Los Angeles to intervene personally. Protests were held outside the military prison, and gedolim delivered fiery calls for his freedom. Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch delivered a special shiur klali at the prison.
Last week’s massive “Million Man Rally” in Yerushalayim also stemmed directly from his case.
Throughout his time in prison, Shamai remained steadfast in his dedication to Torah learning. Despite the challenges of incarceration, he continued studying diligently, writing Torah insights and letters to his friends in yeshiva. He also maintained contact with Rav Sorotzkin.
The early release was made possible through the joint efforts of attorney Menachem Stober and draft activist R’ Shimon Shisha. The prison commander, exercising his authority, approved the decision to release Shamai ahead of schedule.
{Matzav.com}Brooklyn, NY — Vandals targeted Magen David Yeshivah overnight, defacing the front walls of the elementary school and neighboring Torah Center with red swastikas in an act of antisemitic vandalism that has shaken the community the morning after the election of Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Photos from the scene show the hate symbols spray-painted on the school’s exterior wall, directly beneath a plaque and adjacent to the school’s security gate.
In a letter sent to parents and staff, Rabbi Ezra Cohen-Saban, principal of Magen David Yeshivah, condemned the act and assured the community that immediate measures have been taken to protect students and staff.
“Last night, vandals painted swastikas on the elementary school and the Torah Center next door,” Rabbi Cohen-Saban wrote. “Senior officers from the NYPD and Shomrim are actively investigating. We have added extra security on site and will continue to work closely with law enforcement to ensure the safety of our students and staff, which remains our top priority.”
The school administration said it will share updates as the investigation progresses.
Magen David Yeshivah is one of the largest Sephardic Jewish day schools in Brooklyn.
{Matzav.com}
Queen Rania of Jordan ignited a firestorm of criticism Tuesday after she likened Israel’s military actions in Gaza to Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews during the Holocaust. Her controversial statements were delivered in Munich at the opening ceremony of the One Young World Summit, an international event bringing together young delegates from over 190 nations.
During her address, as reported by Jordan’s official news agency, Queen Rania accused Israeli leaders of spreading hate in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas massacre. She charged that Israeli officials were following “a time-tested playbook” designed to “convince the public [they were] dealing with beasts” as a way to justify violence.
Citing a remark made by then-defense minister Yoav Gallant—who called Hamas terrorists “animals” following the attacks—she compared his choice of words to Nazi Germany’s depiction of Jews as “vermin.” The analogy immediately drew condemnation for equating Israel’s fight against terror with genocidal rhetoric.
Attempting to explain her controversial comparison, Queen Rania insisted her purpose was not to diminish the Holocaust. “Every atrocity is unique,” she said, adding that her intention was “not about weighing grief or comparing pain,” but to underscore that “all human life has equal value” and that preserving the memory of the Holocaust must include rejecting dehumanization in any form.
She continued, “We’ve witnessed, in real time, the raw reality of what hate looks like when it transforms from a feeling, to words, to action. To dismiss it as ‘just talk’ is to ignore how every genocide has begun: with words.”
The queen further accused Israel of maintaining an “illegal occupation of Palestine,” despite the IDF’s recent pullback to the Yellow Line under the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement in Gaza earlier this month.
This was far from her first broadside against Israel. In a CNN interview shortly after the October 7 massacre, Queen Rania questioned reports that Hamas terrorists had beheaded Israeli babies, asserting there was “no evidence” such atrocities occurred and claiming the stories had never been verified.
Months later, in a March 2024 appearance, she escalated her rhetoric, saying, “As devastating and as traumatic as October 7th was, it doesn’t give Israel license to commit atrocity after atrocity. Israel experienced one October 7th — since then the Palestinians have experienced 156 October 7ths.” She went on to accuse Israel of orchestrating “a slow-motion mass murder of children five months in the making. It is absolutely shameful, outrageous, and entirely predictable what’s happening in Gaza today because it was deliberate.”
Two months afterward, speaking on CBS, Queen Rania said she empathized with Israeli mothers whose children remain in Hamas captivity, but cautioned Israel not to allow its anguish to become “retribution and revenge.” She added that “Israel could have retaliated through surgical strikes against Hamas. But that’s not what we’re seeing today. You know, we are seeing a war that is not fought in a defensive way.”
In that same interview, she asserted that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, continuing her pattern of condemning Israel’s military response while minimizing the atrocities committed by the terror group on October 7.
{Matzav.com}
