Strategy adds synagogue security grants and Jewish history curriculum
Israeli officials and Jewish leaders said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s antisemitism strategy released Tuesday would not work without changes to his denunciations of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Ofir Akunis, Israel’s consul general in New York, said the mayor’s position on Israel has endangered Jewish New Yorkers. “Until you recognize that your language against the Jewish State, which you don’t recognize as the homeland of the Jewish people, is the fundamental reason for the rise of antisemitism in New York City, it will continue to increase,” Akunis wrote on X.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, praised elements of the mayor’s plan but called on Mamdani to lower the temperature on his rhetoric about Israel. “For this effort to be effective, Mayor Mamdani must also commit to stopping his harsh anti-Israel rhetoric that makes Jewish New Yorkers vulnerable as there are clearly times when antisemitic attacks are fueled by anti-Zionism,” Jacobs said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week at the United Nations dedicated a portion of an address to assailing Mamdani, accusing him of spreading lies about Israel and calling him “the antisemitic mayor of New York.”
The plan itself marks Mamdani’s “most forceful attempt” to address concerns over antisemitism, according to The Guardian. In a video statement, Mamdani said the strategy aims to “confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future” and pledged to “build a city where Jewish New Yorkers are not only safe but celebrated.”
The strategy includes increased security funding for synagogues, an expanded focus on folding Jewish history into public school education, and a pledge to highlight important Jewish cultural and religious sites in the mayor’s day-to-day governance of the city. City Hall will also increase grant funding to community organizations that focus on hate-crime prevention and survivor support, work with public schools to address complaints of discrimination, and launch public awareness campaigns on the city’s human rights law and how to report suspected discrimination.
Mamdani noted that Jewish people make up only 12% of the city’s population but are the victims of around half of reported hate crimes. “This is not only unacceptable, it’s something we all have an obligation to change. And City Hall will lead the way,” he said.
Mamdani, a Democrat and the city’s first Muslim mayor, has long been a vocal supporter of Palestinian civil rights and has accused the Israeli government of committing a genocide in Gaza. He has said his criticism of Israel does not amount to antisemitism, though his opponents have argued his heated rhetoric around the conflict has made Jewish people feel unsafe in the city.
During his campaign last year, Mamdani faced criticism after he declined to disavow the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a slogan some see as a call to violence against Jews. He did not use the phrase himself and later said he would discourage others from saying it.
Mamdani also drew questions over a decision in June to skip an annual parade honoring Israel, which has long been a must-attend event for politicians in the city.
Mamdani has repeatedly called for Netanyahu to be arrested under a warrant from the International Criminal Court alleging war crimes in Gaza.