Israel tore into New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after he revoked a pair of executive orders signed by former Mayor Eric Adams that supported the Jewish state.
"On 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," Israel's Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on X.
"This isn't leadership. It's antisemitic gasoline on an open fire."
On day one in office, Mamdani revoked all orders issued by Adams after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, including one that barred city agencies from boycotting or divesting from Israel.
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Another order had adopted a sweeping definition of antisemitism defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which included "demonizing Israel and holding it to double standards as forms of contemporary antisemitism" or denying the Jewish people's right to have a national homeland.
While all orders on or after Sept. 26, 2024 - the day of Adams' indictment - have been revoked to "ensur[e] a fresh start for the incoming administration," City Hall officials insist Mamdani will reissue the executive orders that he still supports.
Another rescinded order had directed the NYPD to bolster enforcement around religious sites by establishing protest-free buffer zones near churches, synagogues and mosques.
Adams' critics had said the IHRA order violated First Amendment protections of free speech.
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The city's right-leaning Jewish leaders slammed the revocations.
Ambassador Ofir Akunis, Israel's consul general, said the revocations "pose an immediate threat to the safety of Jewish communities in New York City and could lead to an increase in violent antisemitic attacks throughout the city."
Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov said the IHRA definition of antisemitism "protects from discrimination Jews who believe in self-determination and provides clarity on the definition."
"We need to enforce federal law that's already in place here, because the pro-Hamas antisemites emboldened by [Mamdani] are coming!" she added.
The city's first Muslim mayor, who was sworn in on a pair of family Qurans, has been branded a "jihadist communist" and a "terrorist" sympathizer by critics like New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Mamdani has taken positions sharply critical of Israel that break with the long-standing consensus among New York elected officials in a city with the largest Jewish population in the U.S.
Mamdani has repeatedly described Israel as an apartheid state, accused it of committing genocide in Gaza, and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested.
Pressed repeatedly during the campaign on whether he supports Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, Mamdani responded: "I'm not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else. I think that in the way that we have in this country, equality should be enshrined in every country in the world."
Mamdani has also said he will not tolerate antisemitism in New York and vowed to increase funding to combat hate crimes.
