Mamdani’s First Act As NYC Mayor: Dismantle Pro-Israel Policies

Newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has moved with immediate and controversial speed to strip away the pro-Israel infrastructure established by his predecessor, Eric Adams. While Mamdani framed his sweeping executive orders as a “fresh start” following the Adams’s indictment, critics and international observers, including Israel’s Foreign Ministry, have characterized the moves as a calculated expression of Mamdani’s long-standing hostility toward the Jewish state.

Within hours of taking office, Mamdani signed an executive order revoking all mayoral directives issued after September 26, 2024. This action effectively axed several key protections for the Jewish community and measures aimed at strengthening ties with Israel:

• IHRA Definition: He scrapped the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a tool used by more than 30 countries to identify anti-Jewish hate, particularly when it targets Israel’s right to exist.
• Anti-BDS Measures: He lifted Executive Order 60, which barred city entities from boycotting or divesting from Israel.
• Safety Buffers: He revoked directives aimed at creating protest-free zones around houses of worship, a move previously intended to protect synagogues from targeted demonstrations.

Mamdani’s early actions align with a political history defined by intense opposition to Israel. As a student, he founded a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and as a state legislator, he sponsored the “Not on Our Dime” Act, which sought to strip New York charities that provide aid to Israeli causes of their tax-exempt status.

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His rhetoric has been equally severe. Mamdani has:

• Referred to Israel’s military operations as “genocide.”
• Refused to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
• Linked the NYPD to the Israel Defense Forces through disparaging metaphors, claiming the “boot of the NYPD” is “laced by the IDF.”
• Publicly praised members of the Holy Land Foundation, who were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas terrorists.

While Mamdani claims he will keep the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, the removal of the IHRA definition and the lifting of anti-boycott rules signal a fundamental shift. Internal documents from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) suggest a broader agenda to use Mamdani’s office to divest city pensions from Israeli bonds and terminate NYPD cooperation with Israeli security forces. For many in New York’s Jewish community, these first 24 hours represent the beginning of an era defined by the institutionalization of anti-Zionism at City Hall.