NEW YORK — Jewish Democratic leaders in New York condemned the US-Israeli strikes against Iran this week, marking a break from leading Jewish groups.

Statements from New York leaders also differed between centrist Democrats, who decried threats from Iran’s regime while opposing drawing the US into a war, and the party’s left flank, which was more unequivocal in its condemnation of Israel and the Trump administration.

Mainstream Jewish groups have come out in support of the campaign, including the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, and the international World Jewish Congress, while some progressive groups were opposed. The Jewish Federations of North America wrote that it will “pray for the success of the joint United States and Israeli actions in Iran.”

Democratic Party voters and the American public are largely opposed to the airstrikes, though, according to polling. Democrats are also increasingly opposed to Israel, surveys have found.

Around 70 percent of American Jews are Democrats, meaning the Jewish groups supportive of the operation are at odds with the party representing most US Jews.

It was unclear how many US Jews support the Iran campaign. A poll from the Jewish People Policy Institute found that half of US respondents supported “all means, including war” against Iran, but the survey noted that it was focused on American Jews with a strong connection to the community or Israel, and not representative of the entire Jewish population.

While Democratic Party leaders in New York opposed the campaign, there were some differences in their statements, with more centrist politicians criticizing the effort and stating their opposition to the Iranian regime, while leftists were more outspoken in their condemnation.

The split was evident in the race for New York’s 10th Congressional District, spanning lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

Incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman is a Jewish centrist who is supportive of Israel and critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, while challenger Brad Lander, also Jewish, is further left. The two are aligned on many other issues.

Goldman took a more nuanced approach, criticizing US President Donald Trump for the campaign, while calling the “treacherous regime” in Iran “a direct threat to the democratic world order and our own national security.”

“The ayatollah must not be permitted to attain a nuclear weapon,” Goldman said. “But recent history has taught us that toppling Middle East dictators in the name of regime change is the beginning — not the end — of a process that too often results in expensive and deadly forever-wars.”

Lander, meanwhile, condemned the war but not Iran.

“This is an illegal war being waged by a sociopathic president whose goal is to distract people from his failing administration,” he said.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also condemned the war, without mentioning any Iranian malfeasance, sparking criticism from his predecessor, Democrat Eric Adams. Mamdani is a far-left anti-Zionist and Adams is a pro-Israel centrist.

Mamdani called the campaign against Iran “a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.”

He added that police were stepping up patrols at “sensitive locations” out of an abundance of caution, and told Iranian New Yorkers, “You are a part of the fabric of this city… You will be safe here.” (Actually, many of the city’s Iranian expats were supportive of the Israeli-American campaign.)

The statement did not mention Jews or Israelis; Iran has targeted Jewish sites abroad in the past. Jewish groups have urged “heightened security measures” during the war, citing past threats from Iran.

Adams, commenting on Mamdani’s statement, said, “Iranian Americans in New York and across this country are cheering the United States for finally confronting the savage regime.”

“The ones screaming in protest are the usual political fanatics on the far left and far right,” he said. “If you are running interference for that regime, you are not ‘anti-war.’ You are morally hollow.”

Fabien Levy, an Iranian Jew who was a deputy mayor under Adams, also criticized Mamdani, saying, “When Persians were marching in Iran and were being killed, you refused to proactively say anything supportive.

“Now, as every single Persian and person of Persian descent praying for a free Iran looks for a regime change, you say nothing that provides our families comfort,” he said.

Iranians in New York have held a series of rallies supporting the campaign against the Iranian regime.

Jewish US Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York’s 12th Congressional District in midtown Manhattan, the Upper East Side, and the Upper West Side said that Trump had started an “illegal war without approval from Congress” and that “Congress must do everything in our power to stop Trump.”

Nadler will not seek reelection this year. He has endorsed as a successor New York State Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who is also Jewish and criticized the war.

“The Iranian people deserve freedom. But the American people deserve a president who does not flout the Constitution and Congressional authority,” Lasher said.

US Sen. Chuck Schumer said, “Iran must never be allowed to attain a nuclear weapon, but the American people do not want another endless and costly war.”

Jewish city lawmakers in solidly Jewish areas, such as state assemblymembers Kalman Yeger and Simcha Eistenstein, were more outspoken in their support for the campaign.

Republicans were also supportive of the strikes.

City Councilmember Inna Vernikov, a Republican from South Brooklyn and a member of the council’s Jewish caucus, said on social media, “The world is safer today because US & Israel eliminated a top sponsor of GLOBAL TERRORISM.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a centrist Democrat who is generally pro-Israel, did not make any statements until Monday afternoon, opening up attacks from her Republican challenger in this year’s race for governor, Bruce Blakeman.

“While brave men and women risk their lives, Zohran Mamdani attacks the very country they defend. And Kathy Hochul’s silence says everything,” said Blakeman, the county executive of Nassau County, Long Island.

Hochul later released a statement, criticizing Trump and opposing the campaign, saying, “Iran’s regime has been abhorrent for decades.”

“But the scale of what is happening now demands answers. From New York State, we just want honest, steady leadership and to understand that Americans are tired of wars,” Hochul said.

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