Michael Goodwin: Terrorism, antisemitism are raging worldwide – and Mamdani is ill-equipped to lead through any of it

Sensible New Yorkers already were having anxiety attacks about their next mayor before a series of terrifying events in America and around the world underscored what an extraordinarily bad fit Zohran Mamdani is for this moment.

The horrific slaughter of Jews celebrating Hanukkah on an Australian beach by a Muslim father and son, the unsolved fatal shooting of students at Brown University and the FBI’s foiling of a suspected terror plot in Los Angeles spotlight the dangers of Mamdani’s radical politics and lack of leadership experience.

So, too, does the decision by French officials to scrap the annual New Year’s festival along the Champs-Élysées because of security concerns over rampaging migrant gangs.

Clearly, Mamdani is not to blame for any of these horrors.

Still, his harsh views on Israel and the NYPD, along with his condemnation of White House efforts to deport criminal aliens, illuminate how ill-equipped he is for the enormous challenges he will face when he moves into City Hall on Jan. 1.

‘Globalize the intifada’

The attack in Australia has unique resonance, with many people noting that the horror, which left 15 dead and nearly 40 wounded, is a brutal example of what jihadists mean when they pledge to “globalize the intifada.”

The command to kill Jews anywhere and everywhere is supposedly meant to discourage Israeli aggression and pave the way for a Palestinian state.

In fact, barbarism like this has no connection to Israeli policies or the so-called two-state solution.

Rather, those are just excuses to kill Jews, which is the real aim of radical Muslims and others.

Among those making that observation is the mayor Mamdani will replace, Eric Adams.

“That attack in Sydney is exactly what it means to ‘globalize the intifada,’ ” Adams said.

This is “the actual application of the globalization of the intifada.”

Adams has been a staunch defender of the Jewish state during its war with Hamas after the terrorists’ Oct. 7, 2023, invasion.

He argues that the words “globalize the intifada,” often used at pro-Palestinian rallies on campuses and elsewhere, are a “call to violence that creates an environment in which hatred erupts into horrific acts.”

The words have an extra dimension now because of Mamdani’s tangled history with Israel. Asked during the campaign about the phrase, he refused to condemn it, but said that’s “not the kind of language I use.”

Oh, please.

At the same time, he supports the BDS movement and has said Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish homeland if all non-Jews do not have equal rights.

Notably, he never says Jews should have equal rights in Muslim-majority nations, nor has he addressed how it came to be that there are so few Jews left in Arab lands.

Following the Sydney attack, Mamdani issued a right-sounding statement saying, “Another Jewish community plunged into mourning and loss, a holiday of light so painfully reduced to a day of darkness. This attack is merely the latest, most horrifying iteration in a growing pattern of violence targeted at Jewish people across the world.”

He added, “Too many no longer feel safe to be themselves, to express their faith publicly, to worship in their synagogues without armed security stationed outside. What happened at Bondi [Beach] is what many Jewish people fear will happen in their communities, too.”

Yes, well said and true, but why do Jews feel unsafe and why are they targeted around the world?

It’s not a mystery.

It’s that the ­ancient hatred and murder of innocents is the ultimate expression of antisemitism.

What happened in Australia is not a war.

It’s a pogrom.

A suspect inner circle

The problem with Mamdani is not just his words.

It’s also the people he chooses to be part of his inner circle.

Linda Sarsour is such an obvious bigot that she was booted from the Women’s March organization, despite being a co-chair, because of her open expressions of antisemitism.

Yet she found a home — and an ear — during Mamdani’s campaign.

She’s not the only one.

The Post reported Monday that the mayor-elect has chosen Ramzi Kassem as his chief counsel.

Kassem, a professor at CUNY, defended an al Qaeda member who was convicted of bombing a French oil tanker.

Kassem is more than a lawyer — he’s a true believer.

According to Post reporters Isabel Vincent and Craig McCarthy, he wrote an article accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing.”

And displaying an ignorance of both ancient and modern history, he claimed that Jews came to the Mideast “with the intention of conquering the land.”

Another Mamdani transition adviser has a vile anti-police and ­anti-American past.

Democratic socialist Jack Gross has celebrated Karl Marx and expressed vulgar hatred for the NYPD.

As The Post reports, he is on a panel focused on economic and workforce development.

With capitalism thrown out the window, the struggle in City Hall pits the socialists against the communists.

Nobody else is invited.

Deep-seated tensions between Mamdani and the police were temporarily put aside when he invited top cop Jessica Tisch to stay, and she agreed.

A protégé of both Ray Kelly and Bill Bratton, two of the finest NYPD commissioners ever, Tisch, along with Adams, has reduced murders by 21% from last year while also concentrating on quality-of-life crimes.

I don’t believe the success will be allowed to continue under Mamdani.

Enforcement of the kind now happening goes against his radical “defund” history.

He also rejected the advice of Tisch and others to boost the size of the department to 40,000 officers by hiring 5,000 more.

Clearly, a significantly safer city is not part of his agenda.

Ever since the horrors of 9/11, the NYPD has had a focus on terrorism plots hatched abroad, which involves working with federal agents and foreign governments.

That experience is part of a qualitative difference between the NYPD and many other urban departments.

The Los Angeles PD also thinks outside its boundaries, as shown by how it worked with the FBI to thwart a New Year’s Eve bombing plot in Southern California.

Devices were to be planted at logistic centers for explosions at midnight, officials said.

The five people arrested were described as pro-Palestinian radical leftists.

They also reportedly discussed attacking immigration agents and vehicles with pipe bombs.

Security issue

The shooting at Brown University, which left two students dead and nine injured, highlights a different kind of security issue.

It exposed the school’s lax systems, something Mamdani must address at Gotham’s numerous colleges and universities.

The case also illustrated shortcomings of the Providence Police Department.

It still has not revealed what words the shooter reportedly yelled before firing, and was slow to release key videos of the suspect and provided incorrect or incomplete information about him days after the horror.

The NYPD is clearly far more competent.

Yet it remains to be seen whether it can maintain its high standards under a mayor whose history with cops is marked only by mistrust and smears.

God save New York.