New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has revoked orders issued by predecessor Eric Adams that restricted localizing a global boycott of Israel and adopted a hotly debated definition of antisemitism that covers certain criticisms of the Jewish state. The new mayor’s decision sparked an immediate outcry from major Jewish groups in the New York area.
Mamdani, who has said that criticism of Israeli policies should not be conflated with antisemitism, will continue an office Adams had recently created: the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism. Mamdani said Friday, at an unrelated news conference, that his administration would devote itself to “fighting the scourge of antisemitism.”
The American Civil Liberties Union has said the definition adopted by Adams was an unduly overly broad violation of the First Amendment that squelches legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and threatens free expression.
Mamdani’s longstanding condemnations of Israel and advocacy for the Palestinian cause were a polarizing force, particularly among Jewish voters, during his successful 2025 mayoral bid. His views about Israel and its treatment of Palestinians, once a nonstarter in New York politics, have found increasing support among younger voters.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has revoked 9 executive orders issued by former Mayor Adams, including a controversial definition of antisemitism.
- The changes sparked an outcry from major Jewish groups in the New York area.
- Supporters of Mamdani’s actions said Adams had unduly restricted free expression.
Mamdani’s actions in office are among a flurry of 19 orders, modifications and revocations he issued on Thursday, his first day in office, targeting executive orders Adams issued after being indicted in September 2024 on corruption charges: Mamdani undid nine of Adams’ orders that expanded the number of mayoral deputies; permitted federal immigration authorities on the Rikers Island jail complex; prepared to ban horse-drawn carriages; and established offices of blockchain technology and rodent mitigation.
But it was Mamdani’s orders relating to Israel that drew the ire of mainstream Jewish leaders — and the Israeli government — who consider such a boycott of Israel and anti-Israel sentiment to be intrinsically threatening to Jews.
At issue in Mamdani’s mayoral actions relating to Israel and antisemitism are two controversial topics: the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement, and whether the definition of antisemitism, which Adams adopted from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, should cover certain criticisms of Israel and its supporters.
The BDS movement, which Mamdani has long supported, is modeled after the international campaign against apartheid-era South Africa. BDS aims to pressure Israel over its discriminatory treatment of Palestinians, dispossession of their homes and military occupation.
Adams’ order, signed last month, prohibits city personnel and mayoral staff from boycotting or divesting from Israel with city funds.
At the time that Adams adopted the new antisemitism definition, Rabbi Moshe Davis, Adams’ executive director of the antisemitism office, said the change was “critical to confront hate and understand the pervasiveness of antisemitism.”
A joint statement issued Friday by the UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the Anti-Defamation League of New York/New Jersey, the American Jewish Committee New York, the New York Board of Rabbis, Agudath Israel of America and the Orthodox Union said that “when the new administration hit reset on many of Mayor Adams’ executive orders, it reversed two significant protections against antisemitism.”
Alan Mindel, chairman of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove, said in a statement: “These abrupt reversals remove vital protections that Jewish New Yorkers secured and send a chilling message at a time of sharply rising antisemitic incidents.”
The ADL, which considers anti-Zionism to be antisemitism, last year said that there has been a record-high number of antisemitic incidents, with 58% of the 9,354 incidents nationwide relating to Israel, including speeches, chants and signage at events protesting Israeli policies, The Associated Press reported.
On Long Island, vandals have been criminally prosecuted on hate crime charges for Israel-critical graffiti that authorities consider to be antisemitism.
In June, Adams issued an order recognizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. The IHRA website gives examples of antisemitism, including accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel than their own countries, calling Israel a racist endeavor and comparing Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. Several of the examples are in the text of Adams’ order, which directed city agencies to adopt the definition and those and other examples.
Adams said the definition would “facilitate constructive discourse, further understanding, and enable a thoughtful response to antisemitic hate in New York City.”
The definition has drawn criticism from groups advocating for free speech, human rights, Palestinians and Muslims, arguing that the definition is unduly broad and constrains legitimate political discussion.
Mamdani, who has been previously arrested protesting with Jewish critics of Israel, has said that he thinks Israel should exist as a secular nation of equal rights for all, not a Jewish state.
Some Jewish groups — including the left-leaning Jews for Racial & Economic Justice and Jewish Voice for Peace — oppose the IHRA definition. Mamdani said Friday that such groups “have immense concerns around this definition.”
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
#Mamdani #revokes #Adams #executive #orders #including #broad #definition #antisemitism
