Key Takeaways:
- Since becoming mayor of New York City 11 months ago, Zohran Mamdani has made anti-Israel activism a hallmark of his municipal administration.
- Since his ascension to Gracie Mansion, the city with the world’s largest Jewish population has seen an uptick in antisemitic incidents, 40% of which have been connected to Israel.
- Mayor Mamdani’s program to counter antisemitism ignores Jew-hatred connected to Zionism and the Jewish state, focusing on politically expedient forms of bigotry while ignoring antisemitism in all its forms.
Almost a year ago, during the hotly contested election that would see Zohran Mamdani voted in as New York City’s 112th mayor, HonestReporting called out the far-left candidate for his track record of anti-Israel activities, including supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, refusing to recognize Israel’s legitimate right to exist as a Jewish state, and claiming that “intifadas” are non-violent struggles.
Now, roughly 11 months into his tenure as mayor of the city that is home to the world’s largest Jewish population, it looks like Mamdani has made hostility towards the Jewish state a central feature of his administration.
Consider just a few examples from the past week.
In a recent interview with popular podcast host Theo Von (who, himself, has been the subject of an HonestReporting critique over his platforming of antisemites), Mayor Mamdani claimed that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza was a “horrific genocide” and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was its architect. Mamdani also asserted that if he had his way, he would have the United States join the International Criminal Court and arrest Netanyahu.
This latter assertion is a continuation of Mamdani’s earlier political theater, in which he publicly claimed that he would look into arresting Netanyahu when he came to the United Nations General Assembly in late September, despite knowing perfectly well that this is impossible.
As mayor, Mamdani has spent a considerable amount of time baselessly accusing Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza and gaining PR points by claiming that he was going to arrest the prime minister of the world’s only Jewish state. In fact, as a mayor, it appears that his sole foreign policy is to bash Israel and stigmatize its fight against terrorism.
Soon after his interview with Theo Von aired, Mamdani posted on social media that he had spent Friday prayers at the Beit El Maqdis Islamic Center with Palestinian New Yorkers.
While this was a fairly innocuous post, it drew great scrutiny for two reasons. First, as several social media users pointed out, “Beit El Maqdis” is an Arabization of Beit HaMikdash, the Hebrew term for the two Temples that stood in the heart of Jerusalem. While many in the anti-Israel community try to deny the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel and claim that the Palestinians are the sole indigenous inhabitants of the territory, this name ironically proves the validity of Jewish claims to the land.
Second, users also pointed out that Mamdani’s post claimed that the roots of the Palestinian community stretch “back more than a century.” However, while the earliest immigrants from Ottoman Palestine arrived in New York City in the late 19th century, the idea of a Palestinian identity did not firmly coalesce until after the First World War. Thus, the first immigrants from Ottoman Palestine would not have viewed themselves as “Palestinian.”
In effect, while Mayor Mamdani’s post about visiting a local New York mosque for Friday prayers seemed pretty benign, his post implicitly revealed that he holds a revisionist view of history that transplants a modern identity onto the past and that ignores the ancient Jewish connections to the Land of Israel.
The third example from this past week of Mayor Mamdani’s administration continuing the mayor’s animus towards the Jewish state is his new program to fight antisemitism. While it is admirable that the mayor has made fighting antisemitism a value of his administration, his plan is not without controversy.
As Jewish communal organizations noted, Mamdani’s plan to fight antisemitism has no working definition, making it hard to fight that which is not defined. Further, unlike the plan to fight antisemitism under the previous administration of Mayor Eric Adams, this plan has scrapped any mention of Jew-hatred that is tied to Israel.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, nearly 40% of antisemitic incidents that took place in New York City since Mamdani became mayor have been related to Israel. Thus, instead of fighting antisemitism in all its forms, Mayor Mamdani has initiated a program that fights the politically expedient versions of Jew-hatred while ignoring any antisemitic action that is related to Israel.
To fight hatred when it’s politically convenient is not taking a true stand against bigotry but attempting to satisfy critics while ignoring uncomfortable questions about the forces behind antisemitism in New York City.
From the above-noted examples, it is clear that Mayor Mamdani’s administration has continued Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Israel activism, but now with the power of the New York City Mayor’s office behind him.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
