JERUSALEM — A day after Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City, the Israeli Foreign Ministry instructed the country’s representatives in the United States to refrain from speaking publicly about the development. Nonetheless, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, had already voiced his concern.

The problem, said Danon Wednesday on X, was not Mamdani’s Muslim faith, but his "harsh" comments against the State of Israel and its military and civilian leaders. "We will continue to strengthen our ties with Jewish community leaders to ensure their security and well-being," he posted.

The purpose of the instruction to diplomats was to allow the Foreign Ministry to formulate a clear policy and media strategy for what senior officials describe as an unprecedented event.

"The mayor of the most important city in the world, home to more than a million Jews, will be a Muslim who ... accuses us of genocide, supports BDS, and whose dream is to arrest the prime minister of Israel," a senior Israeli diplomat told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Mamdani has long voiced his opposition to Israel's structure as a Jewish state, saying it should uphold “equal rights for all.”