“Leave Them Alone”: Tom Suozzi Backs Yeshiva Education

By COLlive reporter

U.S. Congressman Tom Suozzi, running to be the Democratic candidate for Governor of New York, presents himself as an elected official with the experience and willingness to get things done.

Suozzi (pronounced Swazi) held a phone interview with COLlive.com and Jewish media outlets on Monday afternoon and portrayed himself as a “common-sense Democrat (who is) fed up with the far-left, as well as the far-right.”

Suozzi is the son of an Italian-born father and a mother of Irish and English descent. The youngest of five siblings, he attended Catholic schools, graduating from Chaminade High School, Boston College, and Fordham University School of Law. He is trained as both a lawyer and a CPA.

“I’m the most reliable non-Jewish Democrat in Congress,” he said. He peppered the conversation with Yiddish words, such as opening with a reliable pronunciation of “Bruchim Habaim” (welcome) and “mensch tracht un gott lacht” (a person plans and Hashem laughs).

“The Jewish community is very important to me. I have been fighting for Jewish Americans my entire career,” he said, mentioning his times as Mayor of Glen Cove, New York, and then the county executive of Nassau County on Long Island (2002-2009).

He said he has been one of the first few Democrats who spoke out publicly against the anti-Israel comments of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and called out the United Nation on the anti-Israel bias of their votes and statements.

But the number one issue for him, if elected, would be fighting crime – specifically in New York City. “People don’t feel safe taking the subway or walking in the streets,” he said. “We need to stop the permissiveness and lawlessness. We need to give judges the power to consider dangerousness when releasing (people arrested).”

He said he is a “strong believer in religious liberty” and said he was very familiar with the proposed regulations for nonpublic schools by the New York State’s Department of Education which is seen as an attack on the Yeshiva education system.

“I believe the State of New York has too many mandates for all schools and we should be moving away from mandates towards guidelines. Mandates cause much more expense and it is very inefficient,” Suozzi told COLlive.com.

“95% of Yeshivas are doing a great job as manifested in the performance of their students and we should be leaving them alone,” he said. “And those schools that are doing a very poor job on some basic education, we should be trying to support them and giving them resources as opposed to creating some rule of a once-size-fits-all.”

Suozzi campaigned in the Crown Heights neighborhood and commented that if he wins or loses, “it’s all bashert.”

The Democratic Primary Day is Tuesday, June 28 and early voting has already begun. Currently, Suozzi is polling under the incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul but above the progressive Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and others.

The New York Post said Suozzi is the “Democrats’ best bet to win the general election in a year when far-left madness looks likely to earn the party a historic drubbing.”

The winner will face the Republican candidate in the general elections on November 8, 2022.