Nancy Pelosi Says Mamdani and El-Sayed’s Past Comments on Israel Are “Wrong”

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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that past comments about Israel by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed are wrong. Appearing on Donny Deutsch’s On Brand podcast, Pelosi was asked about the two Democrats’ remarks, which Deutsch described as “concerning.” “No, it’s more than concerning. It’s wrong. It’s wrong,” Pelosi responded, according to Fox News Digital.

Deutsch, who is Jewish, had asked how he could reconcile supporting the Democratic Party with politicians he considers antisemitic, arguing that saying Israel does not have the right to be a Jewish state is antisemitic “as far as I’m concerned.” Pelosi said the views of Mamdani and El-Sayed do not represent the party’s lawmakers. “And it isn’t a reflection of the Democrats in the Congress of the United States,” she said. Pelosi pointed to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as an example of where the party’s consensus lies.

Details & Background

Mamdani has repeatedly dodged questions about whether Israel should be a Jewish state. In an ABC News interview before he became mayor, he said he supports Israel as a state with equal rights but declined to endorse it as a Jewish state. “I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support,” Mamdani said.

El-Sayed has also declined to affirm whether Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state. In a May appearance with Jewish supporters, he said he “struggled” to answer the question and suggested a Jewish state is not consistent with the liberal values “we say we believe in here in the United States,” according to Fox News Digital. El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers on Tuesday in one of the closest Senate races in the country. He has also faced scrutiny over a 2012 letter he signed urging Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government to purge the police, and he denies any ties to the group.

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Pelosi defended her party broadly. “The fact is that I really do not know of anybody there on our side who is” engaged in antisemitism, she said, adding that if such people exist, “it’s only a few.” On Mamdani, she said, “But the mayor, bless his heart, I hope he succeeds as mayor, but I don’t agree with some of the things he has said.” When House members make such statements, she said, “the other members disassociate themselves from it,” adding, “People represent their districts, and we have to respect that.”

Rabbi Yaakov Menken of the Coalition for Jewish Values called Pelosi “one of the Jewish community’s best friends among House Democrats,” but said it was alarming that she did not seem to recognize antisemitism among her colleagues, arguing she “has turned a deaf ear” to concerns raised by rabbis. Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani and El-Sayed campaigns but had not received a response at publication.

Why This Matters to You

Israel is America’s closest ally in the Middle East, and the United States is locked in a conflict with Iran, Israel’s chief enemy. Whether leading Democrats accept Israel’s identity as a Jewish state is not an abstract debate. It affects military aid, intelligence cooperation and whether America stands with an ally under threat.

The comments also matter at home, where Jewish Americans have faced rising antisemitism. Pelosi’s rebuke shows that even party elders see a problem, but her claim that it involves “only a few” will be tested. If El-Sayed wins on Tuesday, a senator who has questioned Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state could help shape the nation’s foreign policy for the next six years.