New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unveiled a new strategy to combat antisemitism just one week after renewing his call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested.
Mamdani announced the first ever municipal ‘Strategy to Combat Antisemitism’ Tuesday, describing it as ‘a roadmap for how our administration will confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future.’
The city says the strategy represents a $7.4 million investment and is intended to strengthen prevention, education, security and support for Jewish New Yorkers.
Anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York City have increased since Mamdani became mayor, according to NYPD data.
After Mamdani assumed office in January, from January through July, NYPD recorded 205 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes, compared with 189 during the same period in 2025 an 8.5 percent increase.
In July alone, confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes were 23, compared with 15 in July 2025, a 53.3 percent increase for that month.
By the end of August, the NYPD said antisemitic hate crimes were up 9 percent year-to-date, while confirmed hate crimes overall were up 16 percent.
Jewish New Yorkers accounted for more than half of confirmed hate crimes despite making up roughly 10 percent of the city’s population.
Mamdani announced the first ever municipal ‘Strategy to Combat Antisemitism’ Tuesday, describing it as ‘a roadmap for how our administration will confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future’
After Mamdani assumed office in January 2026, from January through July 2026, NYPD recorded 205 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes, compared with 189 during the same period in 2025 an 8.5 percent increase
During his September 24 address to the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu directly attacked Mamdani, calling him ‘the antisemitic mayor of New York’ and claiming that many Jewish New Yorkers no longer felt safe since Mamdani’s election
In July alone, confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes were 23, compared with 15 in July 2025, a 53.3 percent increase for that month.
The plan comes amid an extraordinary political clash between Mamdani and Netanyahu.
On September 21, Mamdani renewed his call for Netanyahu to be arrested ahead of the Israeli leader’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Mamdani has described Netanyahu as a ‘war criminal’ and accused him of being responsible for what he calls a ‘genocide’ of Palestinians in Gaza.
He also said he would support enforcement of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant, while acknowledging that New York City does not itself have the legal authority to execute it.
Three days later, the two men were engaged in a public confrontation.
During his September 24 address to the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu directly attacked Mamdani, calling him ‘the antisemitic mayor of New York’ and claiming that many Jewish New Yorkers no longer felt safe since Mamdani’s election.
Netanyahu also accused the mayor of spreading what he called false claims about Israel and Gaza and told him.
On Monday, Mamdani joined Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov in Kew Gardens to distribute free food to New Yorkers in honor of Sukkot
Mamdani revoked executive orders signed by his predecessor, Eric Adams, that adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and barred city agencies from boycotting or divesting from Israel
Mamdani was the first mayor to skip out on New York City’s Israel Day Parade. He pointed to a statement made on his campaign, that he wouldn’t be attending the parade and that he had already made his views on the Israeli government ‘abundantly clear’
Mamdani celebrated Rosh Hashanah with a group of young children at city hall, partaking in the tradition of slicing apples and dipping them in honey
‘Shame on you,’ he said.
He spoke on Mamdani’s efforts to have him arrested, saying the mayor can’t silence him.
Mamdani rejected Netanyahu’s accusations and said afterward that the Israeli prime minister had used his UN speech to repeat what he called ‘baseless lies’ about Gaza.
Days later, Mamdani is now pouring millions of dollars into a citywide campaign against anti-Jewish hatred.
The strategy includes $6.4 million for community organizations working to prevent hate and support victims, as well as $1 million for security improvements at houses of worship.
It also expands Holocaust and Jewish-history education in New York City schools, and provides $2 million for the Queens Holocaust memorial and $2.5 million for a Center for New Jewish Culture in Brooklyn.
The plan also calls for a public campaign explaining how New Yorkers can report discrimination under city law, greater coordination among police, human-rights officials and hate-crime prevention offices, and additional support for victims of antisemitic harassment and hate crimes.
The administration also says it will regularly engage with Jewish New Yorkers representing different political and religious perspectives.
But one decision is likely to attract particular attention.
Mamdani’s administration is not adopting a single formal definition of antisemitism.
That issue has already caused controversy.
Under former Mayor Eric Adams, New York City took a noticeably different approach to defining antisemitism.
In June 2025, Adams signed Executive Order 52, directing city agencies to recognize and, where appropriate, use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, along with its 11 contemporary examples.
The order made clear that the definition was not legally binding and was not intended to restrict constitutionally protected speech.
The IHRA framework includes examples involving certain forms of hostility toward Israel, including denying the Jewish people’s right to self-determination or holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli state.
After taking office, Mamdani revoked the IHRA policy as part of his broader move to roll back executive orders issued by the previous administration.
The move was framed as a bid to create a ‘clean slate’ and signal a fresh start for Mamdani’s administration in the wake of Adams’s federal indictment.
The issue resurfaced dramatically in April, when Mamdani’s Antisemitism Czar Phylisa Wisdom, appeared before the City Council’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
Wisdom said the administration would not codify a definition of antisemitism, or of hate more broadly, and that cases would instead be considered individually.
She described antisemitism generally as prejudice, violence and discrimination against Jews because they are Jewish.
That approach is now reflected in the new strategy.
Several organizations involved in the announcement have praised the decision not to impose a single formal definition.
Critics, meanwhile, have argued that the absence of a codified definition could make it harder to identify and respond consistently to anti-Jewish conduct, particularly where hostility toward Israel and hostility toward Jews overlap.
The new strategy also comes after Mamdani was the first mayor to skip out on New York City’s Israel Day Parade.
Mamdani pointed to a statement made on his campaign, that he wouldn’t be attending the parade and that he had already made his views on the Israeli government ‘abundantly clear.’
