{"id":487080,"date":"2026-01-02T12:35:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/487080\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T12:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:35:42","slug":"israel-accuses-new-nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-of-antisemitism-on-first-day-in-office-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/487080\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel accuses new NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani of antisemitism on first day in office \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cOn his very first day as New York City Mayor Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn\u2019t leadership. It\u2019s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,\u201d Israel\u2019s foreign ministry <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IsraelMFA\/status\/2007009071782883602\" target=\"_blank\">said in a post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/01\/01\/the-mamdani-era-begins-00708836\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">became mayor<\/a> just after midnight on New Year\u2019s Eve, beginning a term that Democrats hope will energize the party ahead of the 2026 midterms. The 34-year-old democratic socialist campaigned on an ambitious but costly agenda, including universal free childcare and free buses, financed in part by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy.<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s public rebuke from Israel\u2019s government adds an international dimension to a controversy already unfolding at home. On Thursday, Jewish civil rights groups <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/01\/us-news\/jewish-civil-rights-group-demands-answers-from-mamdani-after-posts-about-antisemitism-scrubbed-from-nyc-mayors-x-account\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">criticized the removal<\/a> of posts related to combating antisemitism from the official @NYCMayor X account shortly after Mamdani assumed office, warning that the move risked sending the wrong signal at a particularly sensitive moment.<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/video\/shorts\/zohran-mamdani-responds-to-accusations-of-antisemitism-241929285582\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repeatedly rejected accusations<\/a> of antisemitism, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QXOOUKP0yWs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">arguing his criticism<\/a> of Israel is rooted in human rights concerns. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jta.org\/2025\/10\/31\/united-states\/the-jta-qa-with-zohran-mamdani-i-dont-begrudge-folks-who-are-skeptical-of-me?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">He has pledged <\/a>to protect New York\u2019s Jewish community, while maintaining his outspoken views on Middle East policy.<\/p>\n<p>That solidarity with New York\u2019s Jewish community was repeated in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iazY_UDQdck\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his swearing-in ceremony<\/a>, where celebrated the city\u2019s diversity by quipping: \u201cWhere else could a Muslim kid like me grow up eating bagels and lox every Sunday?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani does, however, support <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/american-politics\/article-866693\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bond disinvestment to pressure Israel<\/a>, and says he does not believe Israel should exist as a \u201cJewish state.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Israeli officials have long viewed Mamdani with suspicion. Following his election victory in November Israel\u2019s Deputy Foreign Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/liveblog_entry\/deputy-fm-says-election-of-zohran-mamdani-in-nyc-is-deeply-concerning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sharren Haskel described<\/a> the outcome as \u201cdeeply concerning,\u201d pointing to Mamdani\u2019s past activism and rhetoric.<\/p>\n<p>Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu slammed Mamdani\u2019s Jewish supporters, accusing them of having \u201craised their hands in support of antisemitism in the heart of America.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOn his very first day as New York City Mayor Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":487081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,12648,17749,99,31815,5705,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,4851,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-487080","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-antisemitism","10":"tag-cities","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-israeli-palestinian-conflict","13":"tag-mayors","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-palestine","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115825536089988821","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}