Mamdani, Accused Of Fueling Antisemitism, Rolls Out Plan To Fight It

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a highly anticipated blueprint to combat rising antisemitism Tuesday amid ongoing criticisms that he’s fueled the problem.

Under his plan, the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism will weigh in on $26 million that was allocated in this year's budget to the Mayor’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, which has a broader mandate to fight all forms of hate.

The cash infusion will mean more money for organizations already engaged in combating antisemitism online and for supporting victims of antisemitic incidents. In particular, the city has doubled the investment in groups doing this work to $6.4 million and has earmarked $1 million for physical security at sensitive sites like synagogues. And it will work to increase visits to the Museum of Jewish Heritage for middle schoolers.

“We hold a responsibility to sustain and protect our Jewish neighbors — a responsibility that belongs to each of us,” Mamdani said in a video message accompanying the report. “That is the work we are undertaking at City Hall, and I am asking every New Yorker to join us.”

The 35-page document comes as Mamdani has failed to mend relations with large swaths of the city’s Jewish population who believe the mayor himself has contributed to a climate of antisemitism.

Prominent Jewish groups have pointed to Mamdani’s frequent condemnation of Israel, his failure to fully denounce phrases like “globalize the intifada” and a recent video of him calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal as examples of how he’s ratcheted up tensions for Jewish New Yorkers. So far this year, there have been around 223 antisemitic hate crimes, making up more than half of all hate crimes in the city — despite Jews comprising around 12 percent of the population.

The blueprint, which the administration is touting as the first forward-looking municipal plan to combat antisemitism in the country, is heavy on education campaigns for students and training for city workers.

The administration plans to restart an interagency task force related to the security of physical sites in the city and has earmarked millions in capital investments for projects like a Holocaust memorial in Queens. The plan also outlines how the office coordinates with other outfits like the NYPD and the Mayor’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes.

Mamdani’s team said its blueprint is based on a similar plan from former President Joe Biden. J Street NYC, a pro-Israel organization that supports a two-state solution, praised the plan.

“President Biden's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism was appropriately widely praised for tackling hate on multiple fronts, and it's encouraging to see the Mayor's team seem to adapt that whole-of-government model,” Jonathan Kopp, the organization's chair, said in a statement. “This is a strong step in the right direction.”

And while many Jewish organizations in the city were briefed on the plan, some of Mamdani’s most prominent critics had yet to weigh in on it upon its release.

The pushback Mamdani has received more broadly for his rhetoric around the Middle East does not appear to pose a political threat, though. Polling has shown Democrats across the country hold increasingly critical views of Israel and strongly support Palestinians in the conflict — a worldview in line with the mayor’s own.

Yet the emotional nature of the conflict and the sheer number of New Yorkers invested in it have nevertheless made the issue a thorny one for Mamdani. Whether the actions outlined in Tuesday’s report will appease some of Mamdani’s most vociferous critics remains to be seen.

The report, for instance, explicitly avoids adopting a definition of antisemitism, something that has been the subject of much debate among different organizations and between factions of the community and City Hall. Earlier this year, Mamdani dispensed with a particular definition that was adopted by former Mayor Eric Adams on his way out the door.

Phylisa Wisdom, head of the office to combat antisemitism, said in a Monday briefing with reporters it was not the city’s role to settle a debate over how to define antisemitism. Governments that have adopted the definition have not seen a reduction in antisemitism, she said, and no other hate crime category is formally defined by the city, either.

“Antisemitism is a complex and persistent form of hate, and it cannot be addressed through a single program or agency,” she said in a statement accompanying the report. “This Strategy brings the full power of City government to the work of preventing hate, supporting survivors, protecting Jewish institutions, educating New Yorkers and celebrating Jewish life.”