Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian views drive 83% of his voters, progressive group’s poll shows

Defence affair analysis

many primary voters were on his side, according to the poll commissioned by IMEU Policy Project, a pro-Palestinian advocacy nonprofit. It found that 78% agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, 79% support restricting weapons shipments to Israel and 63% say that Netanyahu should be arrested if he visits New York

Zohran Mamdani’s advocacy for Palestinians was a motivating factor for most of the New Yorkers who voted for him in the mayoral primary, new polling from a progressive research group suggests.

Most voters who showed up for Mamdani were inspired by his campaign to lower costs and tax the wealthy, according to the poll conducted by Data for Progress and released by the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project on Tuesday. But their third-most motivating issue was “his support for Palestinian rights,” which drove 62% of his voters.

New Yorkers who never voted before, a surge of tens of thousands of people, were especially motivated by Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian beliefs — 83% said it drove them to the voting booth.

Mamdani, who is running to be New York’s first Muslim mayor and has said that Palestinian rights are central to his identity, sharply criticized Israel’s offensive in Gaza during the primary race. When drilled repeatedly by journalists and opponents, he said that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians and that he supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.