Danger To Jews Or Defender Against Antisemitism New York Jewish

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 28, 2025, 4:16 AM

danger to jews or defender against antisemitism new york jewish

Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent. NEW YORK — New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s incoming administration marks a sea change for the US city’s Jews, with leading rabbis calling Mamdani a “danger” and warning of his “uncompromising anti-Zionism.” Mamdani is a longtime anti-Israel activist who has identified as an anti-Zionist, and much of the concern stems from Mamdani’s rhetoric against Israel, with Jewish leaders fearing the administration could foment hostility against Jews. Polls have found that a majority of Jews believe Mamdani will make the city less safe for them. Concerns have continued to mount in recent weeks as Mamdani’s staff comes together ahead of his taking office on January 1. An ADL report released this week found that many of Mamdani’s appointees have ties to anti-Zionist activist groups and one appointee resigned last week after old antisemitic comments she made online surfaced.

But what policies has Mamdani vowed to enact that could directly affect Jewish New Yorkers? The mayor-elect has focused on affordability and housing — issues that will affect Jews like other New Yorkers — but also outlined proposals that have a more immediate impact on Jews related to education,... New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of a new Office to Combat Antisemitism in Tuesday press conference, citing a surge in antisemitic hate crimes in the city. "Antisemitism is an attack not only on Jewish New Yorkers but on the very idea of New York City as a place where people from all backgrounds can live together," Adams said. "This office will tackle antisemitism in all of its forms, ensuring Jewish New Yorkers are protected and can thrive." The office, led by Moshe Davis, former Jewish liaison for the Adams administration, will focus on monitoring incidents, coordinating with law enforcement, and advising on policies to curb hate crimes.

Davis, who in the press conference compared Adams to a "modern-day Maccabee" emphasized the need for a robust response. "Combating antisemitism requires a sledgehammer approach: coordinated, unapologetic, and immediate. With this office, he is strengthening his resolve to ensure Jewish New Yorkers thrive." As its first move, Adams said the office will create an inter-agency task force and a commission of Jewish leaders to guide its work. The task force, will "monitor court cases and outcomes at all levels of the justice system, maintaining liaisons with the New York City Law Department on appropriate cases" and will "have the authority to... A lawyer serving on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team has a track record of praising and associating with Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader infamous for his bigoted rhetoric about Jews and others,...

The details about Jacques Léandre, a local election lawyer who serves on the Mamdani transition’s Committee on Legal Affairs, were contained in a report set to be released Monday by the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL, which focuses on fighting antisemitism, has been screening Mamdani transition advisers for comments seen as hateful against Jewish people. Last week, the ADL disclosed it had discovered Mamdani’s incoming City Hall appointments director, Cat Almonte Da Costa, made offensive social media posts about Jews when she was a teenager, prompting her to apologize... The revelations touch on a sensitive issue for Mamdani. The mayor-elect’s stances on Israel, such as his support for divesting from the country in response to its treatment of Palestinians, have sparked criticism that his positions promote antisemitism, a charge he vehemently denies. The latest ADL report, a copy of which was shared with the Daily News ahead of its publication, alleges roughly 20% of Mamdani’s 400 transition team members have a record of what the ADL...

Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the New York Jewish Agenda, and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, senior rabbi emerita of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah. Ray Singh; Laurie Rhodes By Phylisa Wisdom and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum As we find ourselves in the midst of New York City's municipal elections, there are two overlapping truths about antisemitism. First, antisemitism is real, and there is a documented, significant increase in its incidents. And second, some politicians and candidates are using the rise in antisemitism as a pretext to advance political agendas that have little, if anything, to do with Jewish safety or meaningfully combating hate.

These are deeply challenging times for the American Jewish community. Jewish Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was firebombed on Passover, and in the last two weeks, there have been two incidents of serious violence targeting Jews, ostensibly as a protest of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Let us be clear: violence against American Jews at Jewish gatherings is antisemitism. Regardless of political beliefs, Jews are justifiably concerned and nervous about antisemitism, and are aware of the ways it’s been normalized in mainstream political discourse on both the right and the left. Jews on each side of the political spectrum accuse the other side of enabling it, and we – no matter our politics – are noticing the ways our pain and fear have been used...

Jews are aligned that antisemitism is a problem that must be addressed. The Jewish community has a broad range of views on the most effective ways to combat antisemitism and what does or does not constitute “weaponizing” charges of antisemitism for a specific political gain other... Nor does the community agree on whether Jews must always support the state of Israel or even what being supportive of Israel looks like. Mid-2024 polling shows that 94% of Jewish voters believe that you can be “pro-Israel” and also be critical of the Israeli government and policy, while 86% believe that you can be critical of the... It must be possible to hold elected officials accountable to combating antisemitism, without ignoring the reality and nuance of where communal discourse is. In 2023, prior to the events of October 7, New York Jews were already exhibiting substantial concern about antisemitism.

This study measured antisemitism in three ways: concern about antisemitism in different contexts, worry about personal safety as a Jewish person, and experience(s) with antisemitism. The groups most affected by all three of these measures share similar demographic characteristics: They tend to be more Jewishly connected (e.g., more denominationally identified, more strongly attached to Israel) and more politically conservative. These are the people who are not only concerned and/or worried about antisemitism, but who also avoid going places as a result of their fear and also sometimes experience antisemitism firsthand. The subgroup most affected by antisemitism, including the group most likely to have antisemitic experiences, are the Orthodox, especially the Haredi subgroup, who are most identifiable as Jews. In 2023, nearly half of Jewish adults were very concerned about antisemitism in the New York metro area, and nearly 90% were at least somewhat concerned. Concern about antisemitism in the metro area is highest among both Orthodox and Conservative Jews.1 Among the Orthodox, comparable levels of concern about antisemitism are exhibited by Haredi Jews and by non-Haredi Jews.

We first conducted bivariate analyses to identify any potential associations between characteristics of Jewish adults and their reported level of concern regarding antisemitism in the New York metro area. We then conducted multivariate ordered logistic regression to understand if any of these previously identified associations were explained by other factors. The final model showed that age, denomination, and attachment to Israel were associated with Jewish adults’ reported concern about antisemitism. We then produced tables of antisemitism concern by each of these associated characteristics and conducted pairwise comparisons to identify significant differences between reported levels of concern across values of each independent variable. Concern about antisemitism is also higher among older Jewish adults. Two thirds (67%) of those ages 65 and older are very concerned about antisemitism in New York, compared with less than a third of those under thirty (29%).

The youngest respondents are also most likely to say they are not at all concerned, with those under thirty (21%) more than five times more likely than the oldest adults (4%) to not be... (The Center Square) – The greatest number of antisemitic attacks were reported last year, 9,354, according to an annual report published by the Anti-Defamation League. The majority of incidents, 64%, occurred in 10 states, eight of which are led by Democrats, The Center Square reported. According to the ADL’s Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in 2024, New York state led the U.S. with the greatest number of incidents, 1,437, accounting for 15% of the national total. California ranked second with 1,344 incidents.

The ADL tracks incidents targeting Jewish- or Israeli-Americans or Jewish institutions and houses of worship; categories include harassment, vandalism and assault. Last year, New York “reached levels unprecedented in recent history, with assaults increasing by 52% in 2024 and a staggering 583% over the past five years,” the ADL states.

Danger To Jews Or Defender Against Antisemitism New York Jewish

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