NEW YORK — The Government of Israel on Friday accused Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York of antisemitism, following his decision the day before to cancel two executive orders issued by his predecessor that had barred city agencies from boycotting Israel and defined some criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, and the statement, made on social media by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was an extraordinary accusation of anti-Jewish animosity levelled at the new mayor of that city by the leadership of the Jewish state.
“On his very first day as @NYCMayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel,” the Foreign Ministry wrote on social platform X.
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“This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.”
Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, amplified that attack, saying Mr Mamdani’s decision posed “an immediate threat to the safety of Jewish communities in New York City and could lead to an increase in violent antisemitic attacks throughout the city.”
Mr Mamdani did not directly address the Israeli Government’s accusation at a news conference Friday. But he said “protecting Jewish New Yorkers is going to be a focus of my administration” and that his action on executive orders had given it “a clean slate to get to work on delivering a new era for New Yorkers.”
“My administration will also be marked by a city government that will be relentless in its efforts to combat hate and division,” Mr Mamdani said. “And that includes fighting the scourge of antisemitism, by actually funding hate crime prevention, by celebrating our neighbours and by practising a politics of universality.”
Mr Mamdani has been a strong critic of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians throughout his public life, and the Israeli Government has denounced him before. As recently as October, it described him as someone who “excuses terror and normalises antisemitism” and said he “stands with Jews only when they are dead.”
The two Israel-related executive orders revoked Thursday were among a dozen orders issued by Mr Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams, that were cancelled or amended by the new mayor on his first day in office.
On Friday, a coalition of major Jewish organisations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the UJA Federation of New York, issued a joint statement opposing the cancellation of the executive orders.
They said Mr Mamdani had “reversed two significant protections against antisemitism,” and expressed particular alarm over the revocation of Mr Adams’ ban on the boycott of Israel by city agencies, which he signed less than one month ago.
“Singling out Israel for sanctions is not the way to make Jewish New Yorkers feel included and safe, and will undermine any words to that effect,” they said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani visits a rent-stabilised apartment building in Brooklyn to discuss his new administration’s appointments and policies. Credit: DAVE SANDERS/NYT
Mr Mamdani’s political rise alarmed many Jewish New Yorkers who were concerned by his outspoken criticism of Israel, including his initial reluctance to condemn the activist slogan “globalise the intifada,” which he said he had not personally used.
But he also won the votes of many other Jewish residents who said they were inspired by his campaign and either unbothered by or supportive of his views on the Middle East.
Throughout his campaign, Mr Mamdani repeatedly vowed to protect the security and celebrate the contributions of Jewish New Yorkers. That was a promise he made again at a news conference Thursday, when he did not mention the two pro-Israel executive orders he had cancelled but pointed to “the continued incorporation of the Office to Combat Antisemitism.”
“That is an issue that we take very seriously and as part of the commitment that we’ve made to Jewish New Yorkers: to not only protect them, but to celebrate and cherish them,” Mr Mamdani told reporters.
He also used part of his 20-minute inaugural speech Thursday to broadly promise to protect all New Yorkers, including those who have concerns about his administration. “I know there are some who view this administration with distrust or disdain,” he acknowledged in his remarks.
Mr Mamdani has criticised Israel in ways that were once seen as unthinkable for an elected official in New York. He has decried Israel as an apartheid state. He has backed accusations made by international and Israeli human rights groups, and a United Nations panel, that it has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The two Israel-related executive orders revoked Thursday had been widely seen as an attempt by Mr Adams to both signal his support for Israel and stymie his likely successor.
One of the orders, which barred city agencies from boycotting Israel, was signed less than one month before it was revoked. The second, signed in June, codified an expansive and controversial definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
That framework for understanding antisemitism was proposed by the group in 2016 and includes 11 examples intended to illustrate anti-Jewish bigotry, seven of which include or relate in some way to criticism of Israel.
As such, the definition has been a long-standing topic of debate, which has grown more heated as some Jewish groups have urged governments and other institutions to adopt or codify it, as episodes of antisemitism have risen in recent years. But other groups have objected to the way the framework equates some criticism of Israel with hatred of Jewish people.
Mr Mamdani’s decision to cancel the two executive orders was celebrated by some progressives. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the orders and others like them had “a chilling effect on speech that is protected by the First Amendment.”
“Both of those orders appeared to be last-ditch attempts to suppress viewpoints that the mayor and his benefactors disagreed with, especially since one of them was issued just in the last few weeks,” she said. “It is no surprise and it is good news that our new mayor has revoked them.”
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said her organisation believed that the IHRA definition should not be codified into law but instead serve as a “vital resource and tool” for government, academics and the public to better understand antisemitism.
In many ways, Ms Spitalnick added, the debate over codifying the definition is a red herring that “avoids real accountability for a leader in fighting antisemitism.” As Mr Mamdani begins his term, she will look to how he funds the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes and the New York City Commission on Human Rights as indicators that he is meeting his commitment to protect Jewish New Yorkers.
“There’s a huge amount that this administration can do in these early weeks to not just signal to the Jewish community its commitment to our safety,” Ms Spitalnick said, “but to take real action.”
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