Mamdani Appointee on Antisemitism Denies Anti-Zionism as a Form of Bigotry

The notion that New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, would moderate his anti-Israel views upon taking office is belied by his choice to lead City Hall’s office of antisemitism. Mr. Mamdani selected for the post a progressive Jewish leader, Phylisa Wisdom, who opposes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. Meaning she denies that anti-Zionism functions as a contemporary form of bigotry. Ms. Wisdom’s appointment aligns with Mr. Mamdani’s opening salvo as mayor. That is, revoking all of Mayor Eric Adams’s executive orders, including one that codified IHRA’s definition as New York’s standard for identifying antisemitism. When the action sparked concern among the Jewish community, Ms. Wisdom came to Mr. Mamdani’s defense: “Not everyone thinks you need to codify I.H.R.A to keep the Jewish people safe,” she told the Times. Ms. Wisdom’s stance assumes a clear line between anti-Israel sentiment and violence against Jews. Yet the surge in antisemitic hate crimes that followed Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel suggests otherwise. A gunman who opened fire on a couple outside an American Jewish Committee event in Washington, D.C., killing them, made the connection clear: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” he told investigators. Also telling is Ms. Wisdom’s response when then-mayoral candidate Andrew Yang expressed solidarity with Israel as it faced rocket fire from Hamas in 2021. “As an American Jew and a New Yorker, I am floored by this tweet (although never surprised),” she wrote on X. “NYC deserves a mayor who will stand up for Palestinians in the face of state-sanctioned violence.” By those standards, Mr. Mamdani is her guy. And in picking Ms. Wisdom, Mr. Mamdani has found the perfect partner for advancing his anti-Israel agenda. While Ms. Wisdom refrains from rejecting Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state — unlike Mr. Mamdani — her rejection of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and her characterization of Israel’s defensive operations as aggression lay bare the limits of her support for the Jewish state.Ms. Wisdom also jeopardizes Mr. Mamdani’s alliance with a faction of Jews who happen to share his opposition to the Zionist cause — the Satmar Hasidic community. Ms. Wisdom’s past work for an advocacy group by the name of Yaffed, which campaigns for greater state oversight of secular studies in Hasidic schools, has raised alarms among Orthodox leaders who view her as antagonistic to the community.“Mind-boggling” is how the vice chairman of Community Board 12 at Brooklyn, Yaakov Kaplan, put it. A yeshiva alumnus, Mr. Kaplan questioned why Mr. Mamdani would appoint as head of the mayor’s office of antisemitism someone who “Orthodox Jews see as an adversary.” Ms. Wisdom’s predecessor, Rabbi Moshe Davis, offered similar words of alarm about Mr. Mamdani’s pick. “I am concerned about this appointment,” he said in a statement.“The Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism was built to be operational, not symbolic,” Rabbi Davis continued. “It requires government experience, strong agency relationships, and trust across the Jewish community to function effectively from day one.” That Ms. Wisdom takes charge as antisemitic violence surges — with hate crimes against Jews averaging one per day in January — makes her success or failure all the more consequential.

Mamdani Appointee on Antisemitism Denies Anti-Zionism as a Form of Bigotry

Mamdani Appointee on Antisemitism Denies Anti-Zionism as a Form of Bigotry

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