Antisemitic posts, anti-Israel activism expose dangerous double standards threatening Jews as leaders retreat into damage control.
New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani moved to contain political fallout Friday after a senior appointee resigned over resurfaced antisemitic social media posts—an episode critics say reflects a deeper pattern rather than an isolated failure of vetting.
The nominee for director of appointments stepped down after old posts from her X account emerged, mocking Jews as “money hungry,” deriding “rich Jewish peeps,” and referring to a subway line serving a Jewish neighborhood as “the Jew train.” The language sparked immediate outrage across New York’s Jewish community.
At a press conference, Mamdani promised reforms to his administration’s screening process, saying he was unaware of the posts and would not have hired the official had he known. While pledging accountability, the mayor-elect’s assurances have been met with skepticism given his long record of hostility toward Israel and reluctance to clearly condemn extremist rhetoric.
Mamdani has faced sustained criticism for attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, just one day after the Hamas massacre, and for refusing to unequivocally denounce calls to “globalize the intifada”—a phrase widely understood by Jews as an endorsement of violence. He has repeatedly accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza and even vowed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he visit New York City.
Tensions escalated further following an anti-Israel protest outside Park East Synagogue, where demonstrators chanted “death to the IDF.” Rather than immediately condemning the mob, Mamdani’s initial response criticized the synagogue for hosting Nefesh B’Nefesh, implying—without evidence—that assisting Jews moving to Israel violated international law.
Only after widespread backlash did Mamdani revise his stance, expressing support for Jewish institutions amid rising antisemitism. On Friday, he spoke about protecting Jewish New Yorkers and invoked Hanukkah imagery, acknowledging a “diminished sense of light.”
For many Jewish residents, however, words are no longer enough. As antisemitic incidents surge across New York, critics warn that rhetoric legitimizing anti-Israel extremism creates a climate where Jewish safety is negotiable. The scandal has reinforced fears that hostility toward Israel increasingly serves as a gateway to normalized antisemitism—right at the top of America’s largest city.
