Mamdani's $30M antisemitism plan boosts funding for anti-Israel group, Jewish groups say it omits Zionism

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism released New York City's first municipal Strategy to Combat Antisemitism, a plan the administration said makes "historic investments in prevention, security, education, survivor support and Jewish cultural life." The strategy includes a nearly ninefold increase to $26 million for the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, $6.4 million in doubled Partners Against the Hate (P.A.T.H.) grants to community organizations, and $1 million to strengthen security at synagogues and other houses of worship.

"Antisemitism has no place in New York City," Mamdani said. "Our administration's Strategy to Combat Antisemitism makes historic investments in securing Jewish cultural institutions and synagogues, increasing educational opportunities for young New Yorkers and improving public awareness of Jewish history."

The plan drew criticism from Jewish groups and media outlets. According to the New York Post, the P.A.T.H. funding increase benefits the Arab American Association of New York, an advocacy group it described as anti-Israel that was run for over a decade by Mamdani's mentor, activist Linda Sarsour.

The group, according to the Post, has cheered on anti-Israel protests and encampments since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, and received $3.3 million in city funding between 2017 and 2024, according to data from OpenTheBooks.

Separately, more than 25 New York City-based Jewish organizations, including the New York Jewish Alliance, JewBelong and End Jewish Hatred, signed an open letter stating the plan "falls dangerously short" and fails to address the primary threats facing Jewish residents today. The coalition said the plan "reaches back eight years to highlight right-wing terrorist attacks in other cities, while failing to discuss, or even mention, a single anti-Jewish incident that occurred in New York in the past three years."

The letter said Jewish New Yorkers are instead facing "anti-Zionist animus that too often veers into anti-Jewish harassment, exclusion, and even violence," citing incidents including being called "babykillers" and "genocidaires," as well as stabbings, car rammings and bomb threats. The groups also criticized the plan for declining to adopt a definition of antisemitism, writing, "How can we solve a problem if we refuse to even acknowledge the cause?"

Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism, said the strategy "brings the full power of City government to the work of preventing hate, supporting survivors, protecting Jewish institutions, educating New Yorkers and celebrating Jewish life." NYPD data cited by the Post showed an 8% rise in antisemitic hate crimes through August, with anti-Jewish incidents making up a disproportionate share of reported hate crimes citywide.