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Zohran Mamdani, newly sworn-in mayor of New York City, suggested Friday that the widely-adopted definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) does not actually protect Jewish New Yorkers, amid the backlash he has faced for new Day 1 executive orders that have angered many Jewish and civil rights groups.
The self-described democratic socialist also dismissed allegations that the timing of his executive orders, which came just hours after he was sworn in, were illustrative of what critics have argued is a record of hostility towards Israel and the Jewish community from Mamdani.
The new mayor’s Day 1 directives included rescinding a ban on city agencies from boycotting or divesting from Israel and ending the city’s adoption of the IHRA definition on antisemitism ushered in by the former mayor, Eric Adams.
“When we speak about the IHRA definition that you asked about, you know, protecting Jewish New Yorkers is going to be a focus of my administration, and I also know that a number, as you said, of leading Jewish organizations, have immense concerns around this definition,” Mamdani said in response to questions about his executive orders during a Friday afternoon news conference in Brooklyn.
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“What we will do is actually deliver on our commitment to protect Jewish New Yorkers in a manner that is able to actually fulfill that,” he added before moving on to another question.
When asked about the criticism regarding the speed of the executive orders aimed at rescinding protections against antisemitism in New York City, Mamdani did not directly answer the question.
“As the new mayor of a city, you have to sign a continuation of all prior executive orders, or a revocation or an amendment of all of them. And so, what we did was sign an executive order that continued every executive order that predated the moment when our former mayor was indicted, a moment when many New Yorkers lost even more faith in New York City politics and the ability of city government to actually prioritize the needs of the public,” Mamdani responded. “And what we will now do is showcase that new era to protect each and every New Yorker, and to deliver for those same New Yorkers in a manner that they have not seen under prior administrations.”
Mamdani’s responses at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn came shortly after a slew of civil rights and pro-Jewish organizations doubled down on the criticism over Mamdani’s Day 1 directives impacting the Jewish community.
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“We are deeply troubled that on his first day in office Mayor Mamdani weakened protections to fight antisemitism,” the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) New York and New Jersey chapter said Friday.
The group, alongside a cohort of other New York-area Jewish groups, issued a joint statement against Mamdani’s executive orders.
“Revoking these executive orders removes key tools for addressing antisemitism, including BDS-driven efforts that seek to demonize, delegitimize, and isolate the world’s only Jewish state,” the ADL added.
In addition to Mamdani’s executive order rescinding “all executive orders issued on or after September 26, 2024,” which included the measures impacting the Jewish community, the new mayor also unveiled a second executive order on Day 1 establishing five new deputy mayor positions in his administration.
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Also, Friday, Mamdani unveiled another new executive order shortly after he was sworn-in to establish a new “Office of Mass Engagement,” which aims to prioritize and centralize the city government’s public comment and feedback mechanisms meant to help New Yorkers stay engaged with politics in the Big Apple.
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