After New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani launched a new municipal initiative ostensibly aimed at combating antisemitism, Israel’s Consul General in New York, Ofir Akunis, launched a fierce public counterattack against him. The backlash erupted because the mayor’s plan focused almost entirely on boosting security budgets for Jewish community sites, while completely omitting any reference to Israel, violent demonstrations against it, or ideological antisemitism.
Mamdani’s “campaign” against Anti-Semitism | Video: Zohran Mamdani’s X page
“Money cannot buy values,” Akunis stated sharply. “Until you cease the incitement and the blood libels against the Jewish state—a State of Israel whose very existence you refuse to recognize—antisemitism across New York City will only continue to escalate. A genuine fight against antisemitism necessitates readopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which you decided to abolish on your very first day in office.”
The Consul General also addressed the blatant erasure of Israel and anti-Zionist agitation from the municipal strategy: “A true struggle against antisemitism means calling upon your own supporters to halt the chants of ‘From the river to the sea’ and ‘Globalize the intifada,’ formally condemning the October 7 massacre, and, instead of providing political cover to Hamas, openly declaring that it is a terrorist organization.”