The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) sharply criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's newly unveiled strategy to combat antisemitism, arguing that the plan fails to adequately address the forms of anti-Jewish hatred confronting the city's Jewish community.
"Mamdani's antisemitism strategy is finally here, and it only confirms what we already knew: this mayor does not treat the hatred facing Jewish New Yorkers as an emergency and refuses to recognize the different forms it takes," the organization said.
The statement came after Mamdani unveiled a sweeping municipal strategy aimed at combating antisemitism through increased funding for hate-crime prevention, synagogue security, Holocaust and Jewish history education, and Jewish cultural institutions.
The ADL said it has documented hundreds of antisemitic incidents in New York since Mamdani took office 271 days ago and noted that nearly 40% of those incidents were related to Israel.
The organization focused particular criticism on Mamdani's decision, on his first day in office, to rescind the city's adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
"After throwing out the IHRA definition on his first day in office, nine months later his flagship strategy still refuses to replace it with any working definition of antisemitism," the ADL charged.
The organization also accused the mayor of failing to respond adequately to anti-Israel demonstrations targeting Jewish institutions.
"He turned a blind eye when flags glorifying terrorist organizations were flown outside synagogues - a deliberate act intended to intimidate families walking inside to pray - and when crowds gathered outside houses of worship and expressed support for those same organizations," the statement said.
"At the same time, he continues to prioritize his anti-Israel agenda over the basic promises he made to Jewish New Yorkers."
The ADL laid out a series of measures it said it expects from the Mamdani administration, including "zero tolerance for antisemitism and extremism in city government," greater protection for Jewish institutions and the adoption of "a clear and official definition of antisemitism that the city actually uses."
It also called for safeguards to ensure that city contracts, pensions and procurement remain free from what it described as "ideological boycotts."
Concluding its statement, the organization vowed to continue its activities against antisemitism regardless of the mayor's policies.
"The Anti-Defamation League will continue to monitor and fight antisemitism in New York City and across the country, whether or not this mayor is prepared to do so."