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Unpacking Mamdani’s quote from hostage families

We looked into Mamdani’s citation of hostage families in comments criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . He said on Friday, “My politics is built on a universality, and I can think of no better illustration of that than from the words of the hostage families themselves: ‘everyone for everyone.’”

Mamdani’s spokesperson Dora Pekec said he was citing Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod has been held hostage since Oct. 7, 2023. Cohen is the most vocally anti-Netanyahu of the remaining hostage families.

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