SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) clashed Wednesday in the wake of Zohran Mamdani’s election on Tuesday as the next mayor of New York City.
The clash was prompted by ADL’s announcement that it was forming a group especially to monitor Mamdani’s actions after he takes office on January 1.
ADL’s Press Release said:
Today, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) announced the launch of a comprehensive initiative to track and monitor policies and personnel appointments of the incoming Mamdani Administration and protect Jewish residents across the five boroughs during a period of unprecedented antisemitism in New York City.
“Mayor-Elect Mamdani has promoted antisemitic narratives, associated with individuals who have a history of antisemitism, and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state that is counter to the views of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers. We are deeply concerned that those individuals and principles will influence his administration at a time when we are tracking a brazen surge of harassment, vandalism and violence targeting Jewish residents and institutions in recent years,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director. “We expect the mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world to stand unequivocally against antisemitism in all its varied forms and support all of its Jewish residents just as he would all other constituents. We will hold the Mamdani Administration accountable to this basic standard.”
Included in the initiatives ADL is launching today in New York City:
- NYC Antisemitism Tipline. Building on decades of incident response in New York City and across the country, ADL is establishing a dedicated New York City citywide antisemitism tipline, extending the organization’s decades-long incident response work to meet this moment. The tipline will serve as a hyper-focused resource for New Yorkers to report antisemitic incidents in the city, including on the streets, in schools, in their workplace. ADL experts will support victims and use data gained from incidents to track and monitor the impact the new administration could have on the safety of Jewish residents. Tips and incidents can be reported to ADL at adl.org/NYC.
- New Research Capabilities. ADL is investing in early-warning research into policies, mayoral appointments and funding decisions coming from City Hall that could impact Jewish community interests. When actions by the Mamdani Administration could adversely affect the safety of the Jewish community, ADL will activate New Yorkers to respond.
- Mamdani Monitor. ADL will launch a public-facing tracker monitoring policies, appointments and actions by the Mamdani Administration that impact Jewish community safety and security. Drawing from Tipline reports as well as enhanced ADL research capabilities, this Mamdani Monitor will provide transparency around City Hall decisions affecting Jewish New Yorkers, including education policy, budget priorities, and security measures.
These initiatives launch at a critical moment for Jewish New Yorkers. In 2024, ADL’s Center on Extremism recorded 976 antisemitic incidents in New York City—the highest count in any U.S. city and the highest in any city since ADL began tracking such incidents. Additionally, according to the NYPD, in 2024, 54 percent of all hate crimes in New York City were against Jewish New Yorkers. ADL has tracked hundreds of additional incidents in 2025, including harassment, vandalism and physical violence already occurring across all five boroughs.
“This is just a start. But make no mistake: ADL’s core purpose is to protect the Jewish people, and we will be relentless and unyielding in our work to ensure the safety and security of all Jewish New Yorkers,” Greenblatt said.
Hours after that press release was issued, CAIR responded with a press release of its own:
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its New York chapter (CAIR-NY) today condemned the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) announcement that it will create a “Mamdani Monitor” tipline to track policies and appointments of New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani.
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“The ADL has never established a special monitor to harass any other elected official, including politicians who have actually expressed real bigotry against Jewish Americans. Singling out Mayor-Elect Mamdani is an act of hypocrisy and anti-Muslim bigotry, pure and simple. We strongly condemn the ADL’s increasingly unhinged, desperate attacks on American Muslims and other advocates for Palestinian human rights, and we call on New York community leaders to do the same.”
In August, CAIR condemned ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt’s “dishonest and Islamophobic attacks” against Mamdani that misstated basic facts and subjected Mamdani to an obvious double standard because he is a Muslim.
Disclaimer: As a 501(c)3, CAIR does not support or oppose any candidate for office.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
Later, the Israeli-American Council weighed in on the side of the Anti-Defamation League. It issued a press released that said:
America’s largest, most economically vital, and most Jewish city will soon be led by a mayor whose record and rhetoric have repeatedly crossed into antisemitic territory.
The Israeli-American Council (IAC) will hold the Mamdani Administration accountable for ensuring that antisemitism in all its forms, including anti-Zionism, is given no sanction, and that the persecution of Jews is given no assistance.
We will watch development closely, measuring words by actions and promises by outcomes, and we will not hesitate to take legal action to enforce the right of our community members to live in safety and security.
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi at New York City’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, also issued a press release. It said:
I congratulate Zohran Mamdani on his election as mayor and applaud the democratic process. The peaceful transfer of power is the bedrock of our republic — a sacred pillar of American democracy that must never be taken for granted.
At the same time, I continue to reiterate my grave concerns about Mayor-Elect Mamdani’s record and rhetoric on Israel and his failed attempts to assuage fears emanating from large swaths of the city’s Jewish community. His long-standing hostility toward Zionism — the Jewish people’s liberation movement — and his support for slogans and organizations that deny Israel’s right to exist will sow division and stoke the flames of antisemitism in our city.
We will work with the new administration where possible and oppose it when necessary. Our threshold issue remains unchanged: whether our leaders respect Judaism the way Jews see ourselves, not as others would define us.
As Mayor-Elect Mamdani takes the helm of our city, I urge him to be a uniter and a peacemaker by rejecting those who seek to divide us, and to continue seeking an understanding of how the vast majority of New York Jews — like Jews throughout the United States — are deeply attached to Israel and why they see the Jewish state as an essential element of their Jewish identity.
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Preceding roundup was by San Diego Jewish World staff.