On his very first day in office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani tossed out key policies supporting Israel and combating antisemitism, igniting a firestorm of backlash, as the New York Post reports.
On Jan. 1, after being sworn in as the 112th mayor of New York City, Mamdani revoked executive orders from former Mayor Eric Adams, including those defining antisemitism and barring boycotts of Israel, while drawing sharp criticism from Jewish groups, Israel’s government, the Department of Justice, and prominent Republicans.
For Jewish New Yorkers, this hits hard with a tangible risk: reduced legal protections under the city’s human rights law, leaving them more exposed to harassment or discrimination without clear guidelines like the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition to shield them.
Let’s rewind to the inauguration at City Hall, where Sen. Bernie Sanders swore in Mamdani, with his wife, Rama Duwaji, holding the Koran, as former mayors Eric Adams and Bill de Blasio looked on.
Hours later, at a press conference in Brooklyn at 85 Clarkson Ave., Mamdani signed orders wiping out all of Adams’ executive actions issued after federal corruption charges surfaced against Adams in September 2024, calling it a “clean slate” for his administration.
Among the scrapped orders was one adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which flags demonizing Israel as a form of bias, and another preventing city officials from boycotting or divesting from Israel, signed by Adams in December.
Mamdani also tweaked Executive Order 61, a December directive for the NYPD to ramp up protection of religious sites from protester harassment, though details on these changes remain murky as of Friday.
Adding fuel to the controversy, past social media posts about fighting antisemitism vanished from the official mayoral X account, prompting the Department of Justice to raise an eyebrow and vow scrutiny.
Mamdani has promised to reissue some of Adams’ orders, like maintaining the Office to Combat Antisemitism and NYPD directives on protests at religious sites, but planned revisions are still under wraps.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry didn’t mince words, stating, “On his very first day as New York City Mayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel.” They called it “antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,” a charge that stings when public safety is already a tightrope.
Closer to home, a coalition of Jewish groups, including UJA-Federation, warned that targeting Israel with sanctions undercuts efforts to make Jewish communities feel secure, hardly the unifying start Mamdani might have hoped for.
Prominent Republicans like Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov piled on, accusing Mamdani of sidelining Jewish safety for what they see as a dangerous progressive agenda, with Vernikov urging Governor Kathy Hochul to step in with a statewide IHRA adoption.
Mamdani defended his stance, saying, “My administration will also be marked by a city government that will be relentless in its efforts to combat hate and division."
Critics, though, argue that his actions speak louder than promises of universality.
While the mayor insists he’ll protect Jewish New Yorkers in a way that fulfills commitments, the rollback of concrete tools like the IHRA definition leaves many wondering if this is a genuine pivot or just a polite sidestep of accountability.
