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The New York Battle of Hattin: Does Mamdani’s Election Portend the Fall of the West?

Mamdani’s victory is comparable to Salah ad-Din’s Battle of Hattin. In 1187, the Muslim commander, by guile, defeated the Crusader army and created a real turning point on the road to the Muslim conquest of the Land of Israel.
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A reenactment of the Battle of Hattin in Israel.
A reenactment of the Battle of Hattin in Israel. (Zeev Stein/Wikimedia/CC BY 2.5)

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Summary

The election of Zohran Mamdani as New York mayor is a watershed moment, likened to the historical Battle of Hattin, signaling a successful, stealthy campaign of cultural and political infiltration by anti-Western forces. Foreign actors (Qatar, Iran, Russia) and internal allies (the progressive/Woke left) have worked, through funding and messaging, to erode Western identity and institutions.

This erosion threatens U.S. support for Israel, which is existentially crucial. It is time for an organized, global alliance of like-minded Jewish and Christian communities to mount an active influence campaign, not just public relations, to defend Western civilization and Israel.

Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York is no longer a local political story; it is a wake-up call for Western culture. This is not a victory of youth, not a socialist upheaval and not a triumph of liberalism and equal opportunity; it is the first and most dramatic victory in the era of influence and fake culture.

Intensive influence and fake [culture] were not born in these elections, but when this happens against the basic DNA of the voter base (a high percentage of Jews and a moderate Democratic electorate voted for Mamdani), it is already a breach of a dam that, if not stopped, will wash through many cities and states in the United States and throughout the West.

So why does New York interest us here in Israel and what is the connection between New York and the Hattin near Tiberias…? Well, the dam of New York in particular and of the U.S. in general is more important to the State of Israel than anything. U.S. support for Israel is important existentially and strategically — no less than a nuclear bomb.

Mamdani’s election is not the result of a liberal wave, but the direct product of a continuous, planned and well-funded penetration by external forces, enemies of the West, into the heart of Western civilization. Like at Hattin, they do it cleverly and by ruse. They understood that by brute force it would be hard to defeat the West, so they sneak in and win by quiet influence.

For years now, influence arms of foreign states have been operating in this arena, from Qatar through Iran to Russia, united in one goal: to shake the foundations of Western democracy through cultural, cognitive and political penetration. Radical Islam and their anti-Western allies have understood that the way to conquer Western states will not be by force on the battlefield, but in the civic, cultural and political fields.

They learned to penetrate content, to turn democracy into a tool, and to offer an alternative where Western culture has lost its identity. To realize this vision, these forces allied with internal partners in the form of the progressive and WOKE movement — an extreme left ideology that seeks to disconnect the West from the roots from which it grew, to defame its heritage and to pour into it a consciousness of guilt and self-annihilation to the point of internal disintegration.

Slowly, quietly, the West is losing the ability to defend itself from within. Those who understand the arena can identify the hands behind the scenes, the mechanisms that work day and hour, with funding and coordination, to erode the internal cohesion of the West and to play on liberal Western values in the streets, in academia, in the media and in politics. This melody will ultimately lead to its internal disintegration and to the rise of a dark era with dark and extreme values.

Mamdani, like the current he represents, is a master of words; he knows how to speak their language and touch the hearts of all the audiences he seeks to conquer: Jews, LGBTQ people, Woke dupes, and even worshipers in mosques. Each group will be given a tailored message, and everything is kosher on the way to one goal: seizing power and normalizing extreme values and terror.

Let there be no mistake. Mamdani is far less clever than Salah ad-Din and is light-years from him. But the comparison here is primarily to the importance of the Battle of Hattin and the perception of that battle’s influence on the entire campaign. Unlike the Battle of Hattin, in the U.S. the battle has not yet been decided. It is still possible to stop the drift, but that will happen only if one clear understanding takes hold: we are in a clash of civilizations. While one side is already deep in the trenches, the other still naps, confident that this wave too will pass.

Israel, in many ways, has become the clearest symbol of the process. It is one of the easiest influence stories to push; the extreme Islamic bloc rides on it. Here a story of starvation, there an absurd story of genocide rich with understandable antisemitism; this story becomes a catalyst for the process.

But the loss here is double and compounded. In this narrative where Israel is part of the influence story, it loses support among the American public. While we lost the American left long ago, we are slowly but critically losing the American right. And when the process matures, we may find ourselves with many Mamdanis in the American government who, with a wave of the hand, can create weapons embargoes, freeze funds and investments, and much more. Damage that could be critical to the State of Israel, far beyond the Iranian nuclear issue.

Therefore, this is not another political struggle; it is the beginning of a real battle between cultures. A real battle for the future of Western civilization and of the State of Israel together. An existential battle over the world as we have known it so far.

If the State of Israel desires life, and if the Western world wants to prevent the fall of the culture on whose foundations the free world was built, it is not enough to fight the symptoms at the bottom of the rope, one must climb to the top of the rope and take the reins. Not just public diplomacy, but comprehensive influence.

The State of Israel cannot fight this battle alone. A broad, global organizing of communities with identical values and yearning for freedom is required. Jewish and Christian communities that will cooperate in order to push back the dark and that will engage not only in prevention and fortification, but in consciousness in influence, in all the tools that allowed the enemies of the West to penetrate it.

If this alliance is not formed, we will continue to fight each on his own and each will fall in turn. What is happening today in New York is not an American story. It is another station in a transcontinental process with one goal: weakening the free world from within and a real existential danger to the State of Israel, and whoever does not understand this now will wake up too late.

FAQ
Why can a single political election have global cultural implications?
Elections in major Western cities often reflect broader shifts in public opinion, ideology, and media influence. When unexpected outcomes occur, they may signal deeper changes in values, external influence operations, or the growing power of digital narratives that transcend borders.
How do foreign influence campaigns impact Western democracies?
Foreign actors sometimes use media, funding, and online platforms to shape public discourse and destabilize democratic societies from within. These campaigns aim to exploit social divisions, weaken trust in institutions, and erode the shared cultural foundations that sustain the West.
Why is the strength of U.S. support important to allied nations?
For many countries, especially those in geopolitically sensitive regions, American support provides strategic, economic, and diplomatic stability. A decline in that support could significantly alter global power dynamics and leave key allies more vulnerable to regional threats.
What challenges arise when internal movements reject traditional Western values?
Movements that seek to redefine or dismantle long-standing cultural norms can unintentionally weaken the moral and ideological cohesion of democratic societies. This internal fragmentation creates opportunities for hostile powers to exploit divisions and undermine collective resilience.
What can be done to strengthen the resilience of Western societies?
A broad, cooperative effort among communities and nations that value freedom and democracy is essential. This includes fostering cultural confidence, promoting accurate information, and developing strategic communication networks that reinforce shared values rather than division.

Sagiv Asulin

Adv. Sagiv Asulin is an expert on Iran, influence operations, and strategic perception at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA). A former senior officer and operations commander in Israel’s security forces, Asulin brings extensive experience in intelligence, national security strategy, and international outreach. His work focuses on the intersection of influence, faith-based diplomacy, and the Iranian threat network, strengthening JCFA’s efforts to engage global partners in countering malign influence and promoting strategic awareness.
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