For the last nine months, as the inaugural leader of New York City’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, Moshe Davis served as a watchdog against anti-Jewish acts. This week, in the days since he was replaced, he began to represent something else: the social and political divide among Jewish New Yorkers over Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
In a series of interviews with news outlets, Mr. Davis, 28, has aired his grievances about his successor, Phylisa Wisdom, a progressive Jewish activist, and with the mayor over Israel and expressed his concerns about the direction of the office, which was created last May by former Mayor Eric Adams.
It is typical for mayors to replace the political appointees named by their predecessors, and it was unlikely that Mr. Mamdani would keep Mr. Davis on board.
But speaking with The New York Times this week, Mr. Davis said he was concerned about the associations of Mr. Mamdani, a longtime advocate for Palestinian rights, and Ms. Wisdom, who before her appointment ran the New York Jewish Agenda, which describes itself as a liberal Zionist organization and has criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
He said he viewed both Ms. Wisdom and Mr. Mamdani as aligned with progressive currents that were too lenient toward anti-Israel criticism, which he believes crosses the line into antisemitism.
“I think that a lot of the work that Phylisa has done in the progressive and liberal Zionist world gives a lot of room for criticism of Israel,” said Mr. Davis, which he feared was, in turn, “giving a lot of room for antisemitic violence.”
In the interview, Mr. Davis said he wished Ms. Wisdom well, but planned to closely watch how she ran the Office to Combat Antisemitism.
“I want Phylisa to be successful and to have the ability to lead it and to protect Jewish New Yorkers,” he said. “Not to be an apologist for B.D.S. and anti-Israel rhetoric that bleeds into antisemitism,” referring to the movement to economically isolate Israel known as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. (Ms. Wisdom’s organization opposes B.D.S.)
Ms. Wisdom, 39, who was appointed on Wednesday, declined to comment on Mr. Davis’s remarks. But her appointment has been praised by many Jewish elected officials and community leaders. After her appointment, Representative Jerry Nadler, Democrat of New York and the longest serving Jewish member of the House, said he was “thrilled” that Mr. Mamdani had selected Ms. Wisdom for the job.
“As New Yorkers, we are fortunate Phylisa has agreed to take on this role and I look forward to continue working closely with her in her new capacity,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Davis, who is an Orthodox Jew, represents the views of a portion of the Jewish community that has bristled at the new mayor, and in particular at his longstanding criticism of Israel and his belief that opposing Israel’s status as a Jewish state is not antisemitic.
Ms. Wisdom, meanwhile, represents the growing influence of progressive Jewish New Yorkers within both the Mamdani administration and New York City politics. Though Mr. Mamdani’s political rise alarmed many Jewish New Yorkers who were concerned by his outspoken criticism of Israel, he also won the votes of many other Jewish residents who said they were inspired by his campaign and agreed with his views on the Middle East.
In New York, mayoral liaisons to the Jewish community have typically acted as ambassadors to ultra-Orthodox leaders in Brooklyn and belonged to that community themselves.
The appointment of Ms. Wisdom has drawn criticism from some Orthodox leaders because of her work with Yaffed, a group formed by people who attended Hasidic schools, known as yeshivas, and who claim that the schools have failed to provide a basic education in subjects like English or math. Those claims were backed up by a Times investigation in 2022.
For the last decade, resisting government oversight into yeshivas has been the top political priority of Hasidic leaders, who view Yaffed as an insidious force that sows discord within their community and smears its education system to the outside world.
But Ms. Wisdom’s work has also been praised by many Jewish elected officials and community leaders, including some from the Orthodox community.
On Wednesday, Jacob Adler, an Orthodox adviser to Gov. Kathy Hochul who formerly served as her director of Jewish affairs, praised Ms. Wisdom in a statement as “a thoughtful and compassionate leader who I know will work every day to protect the rights and safety of the Jewish community.”
Mr. Davis’s public airing of criticism in recent days has angered some Jews who support Ms. Wisdom, who said his remarks appeared to be motivated by sour grapes or personal animosity toward his successor, whom he had previously interacted with in Jewish community meetings.
Shulim Leifer, a Hasidic activist and supporter of Yaffed, described Mr. Davis’s public criticisms as “silly political bitterness.”
“It is very scary and disconcerting to see the very first director of the antisemitism office be so quick and willing to go on the record, and to quite frankly go on a media tour, with the agenda of discrediting the person whose job it is to keep New York’s Jews as safe as possible,” he said. “It is very irresponsible.”
Liam Stack is a Times reporter who covers the culture and politics of the New York City region.
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