PROVIDENCE – The victory party had all the pieces of David Morales’s campaign for mayor on full display: There were calls for rent stabilization, vows to improve public schools, and promises to protect the city’s diverse immigrant community from federal agents.
But there were also nods to an issue 5,000 miles away from Rhode Island: The war in Gaza. Before Morales came out to declare victory over incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley, the crowd cheered as speakers expressed solidarity with Palestinians, and touted last year’s hoisting of the Palestinian flag on City Hall.
While Morales kept his remarks focused on the affordability challenges facing the working class that he placed at the heart of his campaign, the win by a democratic socialist aligned with the pro-Palestine movement has nonetheless prompted fears in Providence’s Jewish community, as antisemitism is on the rise and a divestment question aimed at Israel is on the ballot this November.
“We’re all scared,” said Alex Cutler, a 46-year-old child psychiatrist who is Jewish and lives in Providence.
Across New England, antisemitic incidents reached record highs in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Anti-Defamation League. There were 400 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism recorded in 2025, the organization reported, a decline from 2024, but still far above pre-Oct. 7 levels.
Approximately half of Rhode Island’s 20,000 Jews call Providence home, according to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. The vibrant community is primarily clustered on the city’s East Side, a high-turnout area that is key to city elections. Many who spoke to the Globe said they fear anti-Israel rhetoric from the leftist wing of the Democratic party is fanning the flames of hate.
“While it is true that criticism of Israel is not in and of itself antisemitism, the impact of the constant rhetoric around Israel does feed into antisemitism, and into the safety of [Morales’s] likely future constituents,” said Eric Gershman, a 41-year-old arts consultant and adjunct lecturer at Brown University. He said Providence historically has been a safe place to be publicly Jewish. “I don’t think that’s necessarily the case anymore.”
Gershman pointed to an interview published in the newspaper Jewish Rhode Island, where Morales promised to take action against antisemitism “if it ever makes its way into our city.”
“For him to think that it’s not already here and impacting the people who live here is just naive,” Gershman said. “That is why I think you have some people being afraid.”
In an interview, Morales said he has heard those concerns, and seeks to be clear his criticism is limited to Israel’s government and American support of what he has repeatedly called a genocide.
“We have had far too many deaths, and it’s a shame that US taxpayer dollars have been fueling some of that military occupation and violence,” Morales said.
Jewish Democrats across the country in recent years have said they feel abandoned by the left-wing of the party.
In her sermon on Rosh Hashanah in Providence days after the primary, Rabbi Sarah Mack noted antisemitism is coming from both the right and the left, leaving many Jews feeling “politically homeless.”
The Democratic party’s socialist wing has gained momentum through rising figures such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who, like Morales, rode a wave of anti-establishment political angst to victory as part of the Democratic Socialists of America, whose opposition to Israel is a core part of its platform. Mamdani called Morales last weekend to congratulate him on his win.
The DSA’s platform recognizes “the rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return, the right to resist military occupation, and the right to self determination in a free Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.” Morales, who is expected to easily win November’s general election against Republican Dave Talan, said he was not familiar with the DSA’s exact positions on the issue, though he is a member of the organization. (The Rhode Island chapter of the DSA has a policy against endorsing Democrats, and therefore did not back Morales.)
“I don’t subscribe to every point and every platform,” Morales said. “I probably want to get more familiar with this platform as a whole.” He said he does not have a position on a one- or two-state solution for the region.
Mamdani has had a fraught relationship with Jewish constituents since taking office. On his first day, the New York mayor repealed executive orders about antisemitism and Israel boycotts, and city rabbis pleaded with him last month to tone down his rhetoric about Israel.
Fashioned by his campaign and national media as Providence’s Mamdani, Morales now faces some of the same concerns that plagued Mamdani after he was elected to lead America’s most Jewish city – and many in Providence’s own Jewish community fear a shifting political tide has reached their front door.
“‘Concern’ about Morales or Mamdani doesn’t do justice to what’s happening,” said Jordan Frank, 53, an entrepreneur. “To me, it’s an outright fear of what their position as a mayor means.”
Victoria Rotkow, a Providence College professor, said she was “shocked and unsettled” by the election results, which she saw as fueled by the “Mamdani fire that’s taken hold across the country.”
“I’m progressive on a lot of issues,” Rotkow said. “But I don’t feel like I have a home” in the democratic socialist wing of the party, she said. Safety is her primary concern.
“I drop my kids at a Jewish day school that needs guards at the door,” Rotkow said. “We sit in a synagogue that spends real money on security. It’s not about policy, it’s about whether my kids grow up feeling safe being visibly Jewish in their own city.” She lamented that criticism of Israel’s current government officials has become synonymous with disdain for the entire country and its supporters.
“I’m not going to be ashamed to be an American because I don’t fully support Trump, and I’m not going to be ashamed to be a Zionist because I don’t fully support Netanyahu’s decisions and actions,” Rotkow said.
Morales, 28, has been critical of Israel on the campaign trail, calling the war in Gaza a genocide, a term that remains fiercely disputed among governments and legal experts. Last year, Morales criticized Smiley, who is Jewish, for attending a conference on antisemitism for US mayors, alleging the event aimed “to further criminalize political dissent around Palestine.”
The issue has divided City Hall under Smiley, where he clashed with city councilors who raised the Palestinian flag, passed resolutions against Israel’s actions, and sought to divest city funds from Israeli bonds.
Morales will be more closely aligned with the council members.
“I believe it’s important there’s levels of moral clarity across all levels of government … to speak out as to what is happening,” Morales told the Globe. “That being said, the genocide that is happening in Gaza in no way, shape, or form should ever justify any form of antisemitism.”
He acknowledged he is sometimes uncomfortable with rhetoric from his political allies, and seeks to be more careful with his own language. He said he wanted to make sure “our Jewish community knows that they’re going to have an ally at City Hall that will be here to protect them.”
In November, a ballot question will ask voters to divest city assets from foreign countries that commit human rights violations as well as from any “complicit” companies. Morales has endorsed the initiative, which was submitted by a group called Providence for Palestine, and promised to enforce it. The group has said the initiative is specifically targeted at Israel.
For that reason, opponents argue the ballot question is inherently antisemitic. And for some Jews who consider Israel part of their Jewish identity, the question feels like a personal attack, said Steven Baker, president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.
“When the rhetoric out there is so divisive, no matter who’s saying it, it makes us feel unsafe,” said Baker. “As a Jew in the community, you do have to now watch where you’re going, who’s around. That’s just always in your mind right now.”
Armed security is common at Providence’s synagogues, as it is across the country. In Rhode Island, 40 antisemitic incidents have been reported to the Jewish Alliance so far this year, including vandalism, hate speech and online harassment. One of them happened on the campaign trail: devil horns and other antisemitic, Nazi imagery was scribbled on Smiley’s campaign signs. Morales condemned the vandalism at the time and said it was important to “speak out against all forms of bigotry.”
Baker hesitated when asked if the Jewish Alliance is a Zionist organization, noting that the word has been twisted from its common meaning: the right of Jewish people to have self-determination in their ancestral homeland.
“According to that definition, we are 100 percent a Zionist organization,” Baker said. “I think the word ‘Zionism’ has gotten misconstrued, and people don’t fully understand the meaning behind it.”
Smiley, who declined to endorse Morales in the general election, said he is concerned by some of the anti-Israel rhetoric. “Hopefully, the next mayor knows that there is in fact a meaningful section of the Jewish community that is very concerned, and we should want everyone to feel safe here,” Smiley said in an interview.
Of course, Providence’s Jewish electorate is not a monolith. Morales picked up support from Jewish voters who say while issues like affordability and rent control made him an attractive candidate, his pro-Palestine stance also reflects their values.
“The only world that’s truly safe for Jews is a world that’s safe for everyone, including but especially Palestinians,” said Devorah Phillips, 42, a Seven Stars bakery employee. “I think that we were given a story that told us the opposite is true, and we can see the consequences of that right now.”
Daniel Boehm, a 26-year-old Jewish software engineer, said he agrees with Morales that a genocide is happening in Gaza, and considers it a positive to have a mayor who would acknowledge that.
“I do not believe that David Morales is going to exacerbate antisemitism in Providence or make it worse,” Boehm said.
Miriam Weizenbaum, a 66-year-old attorney and Morales supporter whose father escaped Germany in 1936, noted antisemitism is already “deeply embedded,” and “comes out with little excuse,” including in response to the conflict in the Middle East.
“At the same time, that can’t drive our expression of what we think is right or wrong,” she said.
The heated debate over the issue is perhaps the most Jewish thing of all, she noted.
“It’s always been core to the Jewish people to have diversity of opinion,” Weizenbaum said. “It is baked in.”
Talan, the Republican candidate for mayor who is also Jewish, hopes he will pick up some voters in November who are concerned about Morales, though he acknowledges he has little chance of winning.
And Jewish voters who generally vote for Democrats told the Globe they are still wrestling with how to vote. Gershman, a lifelong Democrat who voted for Smiley in the primary, said he might sit out the general election.
It would be a first. “I have never not voted for the Democratic nominee,” he said.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com. Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.