How Mamdani Just Weaponized the Fight Against Antisemitism
Appointing Wisdom is a morally bankrupt decision that endangers lives while gaslighting the very people it's supposed to protect. But Zohran knows that.
New York City's anti-Zionist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Phylisa Wisdom, the head of a progressive Jewish group, to lead the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism.
Let's break down why this is both profoundly stupid and downright evil.
First, the stupidity: Wisdom is woefully unqualified for a role meant to safeguard Jews in a city where they face more hate crimes than any other group, one per day in January 2026 alone. Her track record? She's a vocal critic of Orthodox yeshivas, accusing them of skimping on secular education, a stance that has alienated the Hasidic and Orthodox communities, who bear the brunt of street-level antisemitic attacks.
As one Orthodox leader put it, choosing her is "a troubling disconnect from reality" and "at best, deeply misguided; at worst, counterproductive and offensive."
Mamdani, who courted Satmar Hasidic votes during his campaign by promising to leave yeshivas alone, now stabs them in the back with this pick. It's like appointing a vegan to run the Butchers' Union, guaranteed to sow division rather than unity.
Worse, Wisdom shares Mamdani's disdain for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which rightly recognizes that demonizing Israel as a Jewish state often crosses into Jew-hatred. Mamdani axed IHRA on day one, leaving his "combat antisemitism" office without any meaningful yardstick to measure hate. Wisdom has echoed this, arguing IHRA stifles "legitimate criticism" of Israel, code for giving a pass to anti-Zionist rhetoric that fuels real-world violence.
Rabbi Marc Schneier nailed it: "Saying anti-Zionism is not antisemitism does not reflect the reality of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers."
In a city where pro-Hamas protests have targeted synagogues, this willful blindness is a recipe for disaster. Outgoing director Rabbi Moshe Davis expressed "concern" over Wisdom's lack of government experience and fractured community ties, a polite way of saying she's in over her head.
But the true evil here lies in the cynicism. Mamdani, an avowed BDS supporter who identifies as anti-Zionist, isn't interested in fighting antisemitism, he's weaponizing it for his agenda. By plucking Wisdom, a "liberal Zionist" who criticizes Israel's Gaza policies but opposes full-throated anti-Zionism, he's trying to paper over his own biases with a Jewish fig leaf.
It's the biggest gaslighting act yet, as one critic fumed: "Picking Phylisa Wisdom to run an office tasked with combating antisemitism is probably the biggest gaslighting Mamdani has done so far." Another likened it to "appointing Clarence Thomas as your head of the Office to Combat Racism."
Even Israel's consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, sees through the charade, refusing to meet Mamdani unless he recognizes Israel's right to exist.
Major Jewish organizations are staying mum, perhaps out of fear or fatigue, while left-wing groups laud the pick as "smart." But for the rest of us, this appointment screams betrayal.