Douglas Murray to Mamdani, Khan: ‘Stay out of foreign policy’

Israel-supporting British commentator Douglas Murray said New York mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani should “stay out” of foreign policy, as should London Mayor Sadiq Khan. 

“Khan decides to make statements about the international stage. Funnily enough, the job of Mayor of London does not include having a foreign policy summit,” Murray told Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC). 

“Sadiq Khan does not realize what he does when he’s just being silly. Mamdani seems to have the same idea, which is that the mayor of New York should get involved in foreign policy, which they shouldn’t,” he went on.”That’s a big mistake.”

Both Khan and Mamdani have lambasted Israel’s offensive campaign in Gaza. Mamdani earlier this month told a group of business leaders he would no longer use the phrase “globalize the intifada,” after repeatedly declining to walk back his past use of the term. The phrase encourages expanding Palestinian uprisings against Israel. 

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Murray claimed Khan “isn’t a progressive, just a sort of opportunist and heartless bad man.” 

President Donald Trump reignited his feud with Khan during a visit to Scotland over the weekend, calling him a “nasty person” who has done a “terrible job.” 

“The international community — including our own government — must do far more to pressure the Israeli government to stop this horrific, senseless killing and let vital life-saving aid in. Nothing justifies the actions of the Israeli government,” Khan said in a statement urging his government to recognize a Palestinian state. 

“The U.K. must immediately recognise Palestinian statehood. There can be no two-state solution if there is no viable state left to call Palestine.”

Murray characterized Mamdani as an “opportunistic politician” who “would like to get into power by promising New Yorkers things that he cannot bring and failing to address things that New Yorkers need.”

“His position as a so-called Democratic socialist, would make sure that New York, which has been suffering for some many years now with a brain drain, talent drain, money train, money drain would simply go down even further.”

During a June debate prior to Mamdani’s win in the Democratic primary, mayoral candidates were asked where they would visit. A number of them said Israel before Mamdani said he would stay in New York. 

“I would stay in New York City. My plans are to address New Yorkers across the five boroughs and focus on that.”

Mamdani has proposed ideas like free buses, free childcare and government-run food markets. When asked if he believes Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, he said, “I believe Israel has a right to exist.”

When pressed on the “as a Jewish state” point, he said, “As a state with equal rights.” 

Murray’s criticisms also extended to British Prime Minister Kier Starmer, who recently said the United Kingdom would recognize a Palestinian state in September if there wasn’t any progress on a ceasefire in Gaza. 

Starmer’s announcement followed French President Emmanuel Macron making the same announcement. 

Khan had urged Starmer to recognize a Palestinian state immediately, arguing the U.K. government “must do far more to pressure the Israeli government to stop this horrific senseless killing.”

“A Palestinian state is not going to emerge because the prime minister of Britain or the president of France has called for it,” said Murray. “It’s purely to make a political signal to the domestic population, and I think, part of the immigrant population in these countries to show we’re on the side of the Palestinians, not on Israel’s side, because it’s a very cynical, cynical move. It does absolutely nothing to bring peace to the Middle East.”

Amid a slew of reports of starvation among the Gazan population, Murray and the 700-some students gathered at the summit are undeterred in their support for Israel. Murray claimed it was Hamas, not Israel, who was the architect of mass hunger. 

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“People have to understand that the Hamas narrative is not just, ‘let’s kill Israelis for our benefit.’ The Hamas narrative is ‘let’s make sure that the Gazans starve and suffer’ also for their own benefit,” Murray said. “This is a very counter-intuitive narrative for a lot of people to understand. But Hamas does not mind Palestinian deaths. In fact, it wants it because [Hamas] believes it can use a narrative to go against Israel, go against America.”

The Washington, D.C., summit comes as Israel-supporting students feel a renewed sense of vindication with the Trump administration cracking down on pro-Gaza protests that they say veered into antisemitic territory. 

The State Department has revoked the visas of students they believe to be engaging in “pro-Hamas” conduct and the Trump administration has yanked federal funding from universities it believes have not sufficiently addressed antisemitic conduct at such protests. 

At the same time, the nation has faced a rise in antisemitic acts and political violence. Two months ago, a pair of Israel Embassy staffers were shot and killed in Washington, D.C., while attending an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. 

The summit, in turn, had heightened security protocols and a police presence guarding outside. 

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“We’re not going to be intimidated by violent actors. We’re not going to be intimidated by these misguided protesters,” said ICC CEO Jacob Baime in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

He said that pro-Gaza protests were “highly professionalized, highly organized, coordinated, well-funded operations,” and ICC sought to bring Jewish students together to “match that level of organizing, the level of sophistication.”