By Donald H. Harrison in San Diego
NATIONAL
Prominent Jewish individuals and organizations, including New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican, criticized on social media the first-day actions of Muslim Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who cancelled all the executive orders issued after September 2024 by his predecessor at City Hall, Eric Adams. These included revocation of the IHRA definition of antisemitism; official opposition to the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement; and directions to the police department to evaluate rules for demonstrating outside houses of worship.
—New York Jewish Week reported that William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (COP), described Mamdani’s cancellations as “a troubling indicator of the direction in which he is leading the city, just one day at the helm.”
—Ha’aretz reported that Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said Mamdani was “an overt antisemite and a supporter of terrorism.”
–In a statement, the World Jewish Congress said: “When antisemitism is rising, weakening the tools to recognize it is not leadership—it is a dangerous signal,” Haaretz reported.
—Jewish Insider quoted Ofir Akunis, Israel’s Consul-General in New York, that Mamdani’s actions “pose an immediate threat to the safety of Jewish communities in New York City and could lead to an increase in violent antisemitic attacks throughout the city.”
—StandWithUs condemned Mamdani for revoking New York City’s adopting the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. The Jewish defense organization said: “Decisions made on day one set the tone for an administration. At a moment of rising antisemitic violence, revoking a widely accepted definition sends a signal of disengagement rather than resolve. Protecting Jewish New Yorkers requires clarity and consistency, not ambiguity.”
—Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization, stated “The decision by New York City Mayor Mamdani to open his term by repealing the ban on boycotting Israel is deeply troubling. Jews around the world have been facing relentless Antisemitic campaigns since October 7, 2023. Just two weeks ago, 15 people were murdered in a brutal Antisemitic terrorist massacre in Sydney, Australia. The Jewish communities of New York must be able to live in safety, and I sincerely hope that Mayor Mamdani does not continue down a path that fuels Antisemitism against the Jews living in his city. This is the time for zero tolerance toward Antisemitism.”
–The Israeli-American Council (IAC) issued this statement: “In stripping New York of the internationally recognized [IHRA] definition covering the many ways in which Jew-hatred manifests, he will make the City’s efforts to combat antisemitism subjective, inconsistent, and ultimately ineffective. The mayor’s promise to preserve the New York’s Office of Antisemitism, while at the same time revoking the definition on which that office relies, is a hollow gesture. His actions will leave New York’s Jews even more vulnerable.”
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Variety reports that composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz says he will not participate in a scheduled Trump-Kennedy Center program May 16 honoring him because “it no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be. There’s no way I would set foot in it now.”
INTERNATIONAL
Moshe Phillips, chairman of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI), has praised U.S. Ambassador Tammy Bruce’s comments at the Dec. 29 United Nations Security Council meeting held to discuss Israel’s recognition of Somaliland. She stated, “Israel has the same right to conduct diplomatic relations as any other sovereign state. Earlier this year, several countries, including members of this Council, made the unilateral decision to recognize a nonexistent Palestinian state. And yet, no emergency meeting was called to express this Council’s outrage. This Council’s persistent double standards and misdirection of focus distract from its mission of maintaining international peace and security.”
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Israel’s Minister of Culture Miki Zohar said during a radio interview with Chen Liberman that “Judea and Samaria are ours… Gaza is also ours. We’re just letting them stay there as guests until a certain point, but Gaza is ours.” To receive funds from his ministry, Zohar said, filmmakers should “produce films that Israelis like to see. Not what Europeans like to see.”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World