Los Angeles mayoral frontrunner Nithya Raman faced intense scrutiny at a Jewish community forum Tuesday night after defending her use of the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Raman, a city councilwoman and progressive candidate, appeared alongside current Mayor Karen Bass at a forum hosted by several Jewish organizations ahead of the November 3 election.
The forum drew hundreds of attendees and centered on issues including antisemitism, public safety, homelessness, and the Israel-Gaza conflict, which drew the sharpest exchanges of the evening.
When pressed on her decision to appear on controversial streamer Hasan Piker’s platform, Raman argued that candidates must engage voters across different media environments regardless of the host’s personal views.
“I do believe that as an elected representative who’s seeking higher office, you have to go and speak to voters,” Raman said, adding that officials must “meet them where they’re at” even when disagreeing with those individuals.
The forum moderator noted that many in the audience viewed her appearance on Piker’s show as “deeply hurtful,” citing the streamer’s past remarks about Jews and his praise for groups including Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda.
Raman maintained she has consistently spoken out against antisemitism, but her explanation failed to satisfy critics, including StopAntisemitism founder and Executive Director Liora Rez.
“Nithya Raman’s remarks should alarm every Jewish voter in Los Angeles,” Rez told Fox News Digital, arguing that “‘meeting people where they’re at’ is not a defense” for appearing on Piker’s platform.
On the use of the word “genocide,” Raman acknowledged it is “a deeply painful word” but stood by the term, citing unnamed international and Israeli experts who have applied the same language to the conflict.
“I have used that term, and I’m not an expert on these issues, and so I have looked to experts on these issues — international experts, Israeli experts — who have used that language, and that is what guided me,” Raman said.
Rez pushed back sharply, arguing “that charge is not supported by the facts” and that casualty figures from Hamas-controlled authorities do not establish evidence of a deliberate campaign to destroy the Palestinian people.
Mayor Bass, appearing at the same forum, offered a notably different position and rejected the use of the term “genocide” when pressed on the matter.
Raman also defended the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as “a legitimate form of peaceful protest” when asked how she differed from the Democratic Socialists of America, whose Los Angeles chapter has endorsed her campaign.
Rez rejected that framing, describing BDS as “a discriminatory movement that singles out the world’s only Jewish state for isolation and elimination.”
Local activist and Jewish mother of two April Silverman criticized Raman’s forum performance on X, arguing the candidate lacked “the concept of knowing your audience and reading the room.”
Podcast host Shana Meyerson, who runs “The Unapologetically Jewish Podcast,” was more pointed in her assessment of the evening’s exchanges.
“Nithya Raman couldn’t even pretend in front of a room full of Jewish Angelenos to be anything other than an antizionist radical,” Meyerson said.
“She also doubled down on her ‘genocide’ accusations despite admitting she ‘isn’t an expert,’ and could not define what genocide is,” Meyerson added, calling her “another DSA jihadi laughing in the face of Jewish Americans.”
Raman’s approach mirrors that of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who also defended appearances with Piker by arguing candidates should engage audiences on platforms where voters already are.
The LA mayoral race heads to a November runoff, with Raman’s progressive positioning drawing increasing attention from both supporters and critics within the city’s Jewish community.
