The government of Israel accused Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York of antisemitism on Friday, 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 of Israel, and the statement, made on social media by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was an extraordinary accusation of anti-Jewish animosity leveled 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 X. “This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.”
Mr. Mamdani has been a strong critic of Israel and its treatment of the 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 normalizes antisemitism” and said he “stands with Jews only when they are dead.”
The two Israel-related executive orders revoked on Thursday were among a dozen orders issued by Mr. Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams, that were canceled or amended by the new mayor on his first day in office. A spokeswoman for Mr. Mamdani had no immediate comment but said that the mayor expected to address Israel’s comments at an unrelated news conference in Brooklyn on Friday afternoon.
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 “globalize 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 on Thursday, when he did not mention the two pro-Israel executive orders he had canceled 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 on 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 criticized 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 Gaza.
He has said Israel should ensure equal rights for followers of all religions instead of favoring Jews in its political and legal system. He has supported the movement to economically isolate it, known as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. And he has said he would like the New York Police Department to enforce an arrest warrant against the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
The two Israel-related executive orders revoked on 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 longstanding 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 criticisms of Israel with hatred of Jewish people.
Mr. Mamdani’s decision to cancel the two executive orders was celebrated by some progressives. Donna Lieberman, the 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.”
Phylisa Wisdom, the executive director of the New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive group, said there was no consensus about whether the alliance’s definition of antisemitism should be officially endorsed in orders like the one signed by Mr. Adams. “Not everyone thinks you need to codify I.H.R.A to keep the Jewish people safe, in the same way we don’t necessarily have codified definitions of other forms of hate.”
Amy Spitalnick, chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said her organization believed that the I.H.R.A. 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.
Ms. Spitalnick said Mr. Mamdani could also clarify how demonstrations outside of houses of worship should be handled. He was criticized last month for his response to rowdy protests outside of Park East Synagogue.
One of the executive orders Mr. Mamdani revoked had directed Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, to evaluate proposals to regulate protests outside of houses of worship in “coordination” with the city’s Law Department. A new version of the order issued by Mr. Mamdani authorizes both the Police Department and Law Department to be responsible for the review.
“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.”
Liam Stack is a Times reporter who covers the culture and politics of the New York City region.
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