BACKGROUND:
As of early 2026, Zohran Kwame Mamdani serves as the 112th Mayor of New York City, a historic tenure as the city’s first Muslim and Asian American leader. While Mamdani has pledged to protect all New Yorkers and maintains the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, his administration has faced significant scrutiny from Jewish advocacy organizations following his January 2026 executive order revoking the city’s adoption of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. A former member of the New York State Assembly (2021–2025) and a prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani has long been a vocal supporter of the BDS movement and a critic of Israeli government policy—positions that have led many anti-hate organizations to monitor his policies closely for their impact on the safety and institutional protections of the Jewish community.