NEW YORK — The head of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s antisemitism office on Wednesday said that City Hall will not replace a widely-used antisemitism definition that Mamdani scrapped on his first day in office.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism equates some forms of anti-Israel rhetoric with discrimination against Jews.

The definition is opposed by anti-Israel activists, who argue that the outline conflates political criticism of Israel with discrimination. Mamdani and members of his administration are harsh critics of Israel.

Former New York City mayor Eric Adams, Mamdani’s predecessor, adopted the definition for the city government last year by executive order. Mamdani revoked the order, along with other Adams executive orders, when he assumed office, sparking questions about how City Hall would recognize anti-Jewish discrimination.

The issue is significant because discrimination against Jews is often not clear-cut, but sometimes associated with Israel or “Zionism,” and political rhetoric against Israel is protected speech, even though Jews often experience anti-Zionist activity as discrimination. Mamdani has shown himself ready to condemn “classic” forms of antisemitism, such as swastikas or tropes about Jewish greed, but unwilling to label anti-Zionist activities as discriminatory.

Phylisa Wisdom, the head of City Hall’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, testified before a City Council antisemitism task force on Wednesday, in one of her first public appearances since she took up the role last month.

Adams also established the Mayoral Office to Combat Antisemitism, while the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat Antisemitism was set up by the City Council, which is independent of the mayor’s office. City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is Jewish, is leading a broad effort to rein in antisemitism in the city, including the task force. Jews are targeted in hate crimes in the city more than all other groups combined.

Wednesday’s hearing was the first by the task force, co-chaired by Democrat Eric Dinowitz of the Bronx and Republican Inna Vernikov of Brooklyn.

“We will not be the government that sits silently by. We will not be the government of inaction that allows Jews to be persecuted because we’re looking the other way,”........

© The Times of Israel