New York civil liberties groups celebrated Mamdani’s orders as a step to protect the First Amendment right to criticize Israel. Israel didn’t see it that way.
IAK NOTE: In condemning Zohran Mamdani, Israel and its supporters are overlooking the real reason for Israel’s loss of popularity: its embrace of the abhorrent policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, occupation, and genocide.
When pro-Israel organizations, billionaires, and leaders pour massive effort and huge sums into propaganda; when they assemble media conglomerates and thought leaders to control the narrative, and affix the “antisemite” label to advocates of Palestinian rights – all in an attempt to renovate Israel’s reputation – they are misdirecting their effort.
When Israel dismantles its apartheid and adopts equal rights for all, when it ends its 77-year war against Palestinian existence – then it might expect to enjoy support again.
The Israeli government and its allies are coming for the new mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, over his decision to erase much of former Mayor Eric Adams’s tumultuous swan song, including two executive orders related to Israel.
On Thursday, Mamdani revoked all executive orders issued by Adams after his federal indictment on September 26, 2024.
“That was a date that marked a moment when many New Yorkers decided politics held nothing for them,” said Mamdani during a Brooklyn press conference on Thursday, alluding to accusations that the Adams administration was tainted by his efforts to cozy up to President Donald Trump to avoid prosecution.
Mamdani’s new executive order revokes the Adams administration’s adoptions of the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA definition of antisemitism, which defines criticism of Israel as antisemitic. It also ends an Adams-era ban on city agencies boycotting or divesting from Israel. Mamdani kept the mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism in place.
(Read more about the IHRA definition of antisemitism here; more articles listed below.)
The Israeli government lashed out at Mamdani over his order, painting it as both antisemitic and anti-Israel.
“On his very first day as @NYCMayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel,” posted the Israel Foreign Ministry on X. “This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.”
On his very first day as @NYCMayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel.
This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) January 2, 2026
Other pro-Israel Mamdani critics posted similar denouncements.
“Mamdani @NYCMayor just UNDID previous executive order which adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism,” wrote Inna Vernikov, a Republican councilwoman from Brooklyn on X on Thursday night. “IHRA protects from discrimination Jews who believe in self determination and provides clarity on the definition.”
Accusations of antisemitism are nothing new for Mamdani, who made history on Thursday by becoming the first Muslim mayor of New York. Coverage of his campaign, and now his administration, has repeatedly fixated on his relationship with Israel, despite his insistence on focusing on local issues like grocery prices, housing, and transportation.
“Mayor Mamdani was right to revoke Mayor Adams’s executive orders that adopted a flawed and far too broad definition of antisemitism, and that prohibited city agencies from boycotting Israel,” wrote New York Civil Liberties Union executive director Donna Lieberman, in a statement to The Intercept. “Both orders seem to have been designed to suppress speech Mayor Adams disagrees with, but that is protected by the First Amendment.”
The IHRA definition of antisemitism has been widely criticized for stifling political speech over Israel and manufacturing consent for its treatment of Palestinians by classifying criticism of Israel’s actions and of Zionism as inherently antisemitic.
CAIR-NY, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights organization, lauded the decision to revoke the IHRA definition and the ban on boycotting Israel.
“This unconstitutional, Israel First attack on free speech should have never been issued in the first place,” CAIR-NY executive director Afaf Nasher wrote in a statement. “We applaud Mayor Mamdani for immediately overturning it.”
Aside from the orders themselves, Nina Smith, a Democratic political strategist, said that Mamdani was showing New York voters that he is sticking to his campaign promises.
“Mr. Mamdani campaigned on having a direct and authentic relationship with the people he serves in New York, with New Yorkers,” said Smith. “The Adams administration was marked by controversy and corruption, as was outlined in the indictments. And so, it’s not like he’s doing this out of spite. He’s doing this because he wants to have a clean and authentic relationship with New Yorkers going forward.”
The former mayor was indicted for allegedly taking bribes and soliciting illegal campaign contributions from “wealthy foreign businesspeople” and Turkish officials. The Trump Justice Department later dropped the charges. Adams has denied all wrongdoing.
Multiple prosecutors resigned in protest over the decision to squash the corruption allegations, with one alleging that Adams had been “rewarded” for “an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case.”
As the world has witnessed the oppression and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, many people have risen in protest. In response, the Israeli government and certain of its advocates have conducted a campaign to crack down on this activism, running roughshod over civil liberties (and the English language) in the process.
The mechanism of this crackdown is the redefinition of “antisemitism” to include criticism of Israel, and the insertion of this definition into the bodies of law of various countries.
Where most people would consider “antisemitism” to mean bigotry against Jewish people (and rightly consider it abhorrent), for two decades a campaign has been underway to replace that definition with an Israel-centric definition. That definition can then be used to block speech and activism in support of Palestinian human rights as “hate.” Various groups are applying this definition in law enforcement evaluations of possible crimes.
(For a much more in depth read on this, click here.)
Jessica Washington is a political reporter for The Intercept covering the intersection of politics and identity, and co-host of The Intercept Briefing podcast. She has words in The Guardian, the Washington Post, The Root, Teen Vogue, Jezebel, Mother Jones magazine, and other notable publications.
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