In 2023, before going down to defeat by newcomer Zohran Mamdani, former New York Governor Cuomo said it was up to non-Jewish elected officials to speak out ‘first and loudest’ in defense of Israel…
By Jacob Kornbluh , reposted from The Forward, March 14, 2023
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, announced Monday that he has formed a new pro-Israel advocacy group. The move comes as Cuomo reportedly contemplates a political comeback and as support for Israel diminishes among Democrats and younger Americans.
“I am going to call the question for Democrats. Do you stand with Israel or do you stand against Israel?” Cuomo said in pre-recorded remarks at an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. “Because silence is not an option.”
The event was hosted by Rabbi Shmuely Boteach, head of the World Values Network, a pro-Israel nonprofit, at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.
Cuomo said the group will be called “Progressives for Israel.” A Cuomo spokesperson shared Cuomo’s remarks with the Forward, but he didn’t provide additional details about the group. The launch was first reported by Matthew Kassel, for Jewish Insider.
Boteach said in an interview he first met Cuomo in 2020 in Poland as the two attended an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. They have since become close friends, he said. “I told him I will never forget what he did for the 6 million Jews by honoring their sacred memory,” Boteach said.
He said that he also invited Cuomo to Monday’s event, which marked the 30th day of the passing of Boteach’s mother Eleanor Paul, to honor him for his “inspiring” statement during the COVID-19 lockdowns when the then-governor explained his harsh orders were intended to protect the elderly. “He told me, my mother’s life ‘is not expendable,’” Boteach said.
“And on his own volition, he said to me, ‘You know what? I’m going to launch Progressives for Israel,’” Boteach said about the announcement.
A Senate race takes shape
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has told donors that she expects to face fierce competition from Cuomo in her reelection bid next year, The Daily Beast reported last week. Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson, said the former governor has always denied the allegations that led to his resignation, following a report by State Attorney General Letitia James, and noted that five district attorneys had already determined there was nothing to charge Cuomo on. “This was a political railroading, Albany style,” Azzopardi said, “and with each passing day more people understand that.”
New York state is home to more Jews than any place outside of Israel. Gillibrand recently visited the country and told the Forward that the Jewish community expects her to be “a leader on issues related to Israel.”
Jacob Kornbluh is the Forward’s senior political reporter. The Forward is “the most influential nationwide Jewish media outlet today.”
Following Cuomo’s defeat by Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral Democratic primary, The Forward reported (July 1, 2025):
Major pro-Israel political donors in New York are considering how best to keep Mamdani from winning the general election in November — chief among them hedge funder Bill Ackman.
“I don’t think national people are going to be putting money into it,” said the pro-Israel Democratic donor who asked not to be identified. “There’s enough New York money to go around.”
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