Cuomo, in New Ad, Accuses Pro-Palestinian Activists of Supporting Hamas

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York is behind a new advertising campaign that condemns Hamas’s actions on Oct. 7 and takes aim at demonstrators who have protested Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza.

“Do they really know who they’re protesting for?” a narrator says in the one-minute commercial, which will air across New York State in the coming week.

With the ad, Mr. Cuomo plunges into one of the most divisive topics for Democrats ahead of the November general election. Tensions over the war have divided American college campuses, derailing graduations and in some instances inviting police intervention. That division has also torn through New York politics, where long traditions of support for both social activism and Jewish identity have collided.

The nonprofit group behind the ad, Never Again, Now!, was founded by Mr. Cuomo and his former right-hand-man, Steven M. Cohen, under its original name, Progressives for Israel, with a goal of promoting greater understanding about the relationship between Israel and the United States.

The group said it envisioned the ad as the opening salvo of a broad education campaign, including a virtual symposium and the deployment of prominent speakers in the press.

“We’re at a crucial moment in history where antisemitism is spreading unchecked and support for Israel in this country is waning,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement, adding: “This ad does two things: One, tells the truth about Hamas and what happened on Oct. 7. Two: It reminds people that Israel is the victim.”