Foreign ministry says mayor has poured ‘antisemitic gasoline on an open fire’ by scrapping IHRA definition

Israel’s foreign ministry has accused the New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, of pouring “antisemitic gasoline on an open fire” after he reversed a recent order by the outgoing mayor, Eric Adams.

“On his very first day as @NYCMayor, Mamdani shows his true face: he scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,” the foreign ministry said in a post on X.

Mamdani revoked an Adams-era order that adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which the previous administration said included “demonizing Israel and holding it to double standards as forms of contemporary antisemitism”.

Israel’s response came hours after Mamdani issued an order to rescind all executive orders that Adams issued after he was indicted on federal corruption charges in 2024 – charges that were later, controversially, dropped.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
    35·
    4 days ago

    New York City has 8.4m people in it; 15% (1.3m) of them are Jewish, making them a key cultural and political group. New York City also has an outsized (if dropping) cultural and political influence on the US.

    There are 7.3m Jewish people in Israel, and NYC is the largest population of Jewish people outside Israel, meaning that NYC actions and opinions may have more of an influence within Israel than opinions from elsewhere.

    NYC is also seen as a huge, vibrant, peaceful, multicultural city; the longtime headquartering of the United Nations there, the largest financial capital in the world, etc - all give it an emotional and cultural impact.

    Here’s the thing: when Americans look at Mamdani’s election, we see a rejection of the current US political parties, a pushback against the oligarchs, late-stage capitalism, and the corruption and fascism of the right. For most of the people (at least on the US center and left) Mamdani’s religion doesn’t factor into much (if anything).

    For a certain segment of Jewish Israelis who heavily lean into that identity, the election of a Muslim mayor is a threat, especially one as driven and charismatic as Mamdani. And there’s a political class in Israel who is willing to promote and exploit that fear, in order to gain their own goals, whether that’s increased political power, more money, or simply avoiding going to prison.