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In one of his first acts in officer after being inaugurated on Thursday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani revoked the city’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.
The decision overturned an executive order signed in June by then-Mayor Eric Adams, which had aligned New York City with the global standard used to identify and confront contemporary antisemitism.
City Hall confirmed that Mamdani rescinded all executive orders issued by Adams after September 26, 2024. The rollback took effect immediately.
Among the nullified orders was a separate directive signed by Adams barring city officials from engaging in actions that discriminate against Israel or Israeli entities.
On day one as Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani revoked the IHRA definition of antisemitism and overturned the city’s anti-BDS executive order.
In doing so, he erased years of actions taken under Mayor Eric Adams to protect the Jewish community.
These decisions endanger… pic.twitter.com/RJImPSzydx
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) January 2, 2026
What the IHRA Definition Is—and Why It Is Essential
The IHRA working definition of antisemitism serves as a practical tool used worldwide by governments, universities, and law-enforcement agencies, among other entities, to delineate antisemitism in all its modern-day forms.
The definition explains how contemporary antisemitism often targets Jews collectively through attacks on Zionism and the State of Israel. It identifies eleven examples of modern antisemitism, including when rhetoric denies Jewish self-determination, labels Israel’s existence as racist, compares Israeli policy to Nazi crimes, accuses Jews of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust, or alleges divided loyalty among Jewish citizens.
At the same time, the IHRA definition protects legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy. It draws a clear boundary between political debate and the demonization or delegitimization of Jews as a people.
By revoking the IHRA executive order, Mamdani removed a shared standard that provides clarity in education, incident reporting, enforcement, and accountability. Without that standard, institutions face confusion, which enables antisemitism to spread unchecked.
Part of a Longstanding Anti-Israel Record
Mamdani’s decision reflects a deeper ideological trajectory that predates his entry into public office.
As an undergraduate at Bowdoin College, Mamdani co-founded the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) . In his senior year, he led an academic and cultural boycott of Israeli institutions.
After college, Mamdani expanded that activism by joining the Democratic Socialists of America because of its support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. He has described described BDS and the Palestinian cause as central to his political identity. He has also argued that elected officials should actively support boycotts of Israel, not merely defend the right to do so.
From Activism to Policy
Once elected to the New York State Assembly, Mamdani carried that agenda into legislation. In 2023, he authored the “Not On Our Dime!” Act, a bill aimed at penalizing New York–registered charities for financial activity connected to Israeli “settlement activity.” Mamdani promoted the bill as a tool to punish what he labeled Israeli “war crimes.”
The proposal drew swift bipartisan backlash. Lawmakers warned that it targeted Jewish charities and deepened communal division.
Mamdani has regularly accused Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid,” language widely rejected by legal experts and Jewish organizations. He has refused to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Instead, he has argued that Jewish self-determination should be dissolved into a secular framework.
He has also refused to condemn the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” despite repeated warnings from Jewish organizations that the phrase evokes waves of violence against Jews and is widely understood as a call to export that violence globally.
Mamdani has also declined to co-sponsor New York’s annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israeli Independence Day resolutions.
These actions form a consistent ideological pattern. The revocation of the IHRA definition — alongside the rollback of recent anti-BDS safeguards — is the clearest policy expression to date of a worldview that rejects Zionism and dismisses widely-accepted safeguards against antisemitism.
A Warning Ignored at a Critical Moment
The timing of Mamdani’s decision has intensified concern.
Just a day before Mamdani’s inauguration, the New York City Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism had warned that antisemitism was becoming increasingly normalized across public life. The office cited schools, civic spaces, and political discourse as key pressure points. Importantly, the report noted that antisemitism often hides behind activist language, which complicates identification and response.
Against that warning, Mamdani revoked the IHRA definition — the very standard designed to address this problem. Rather than strengthening the city’s ability to respond to rising hostility, the mayor weakened it.
At a moment when antisemitism is spreading under the guise of activism, Mayor Mamdani has stepped away from the most effective framework for identifying it. Without a shared definition, institutions lose clarity, enforcement weakens, and incitement gains cover.
