Mayor Zohran Mamdani selected Phylisa Knowledge to steer NYC’s Workplace to Fight Antisemitism.
Fundamental picture: Lloyd Mitchell; Inset; Phylisa Knowledge Fb
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s choose to steer the Workplace to Fight Antisemitism in NYC sparked controversy on Thursday — drawing each criticism from these questioning the appointee’s suitability and powerful endorsements from these welcoming the transfer.
The mayor tapped Phylisa Knowledge to spearhead the town’s response to antisemitism, a scourge that has elevated by practically 182% final month in comparison with January 2025. Whereas Knowledge led a progressive Jewish advocacy group, her appointment is receiving backlash from some Jewish leaders who’re involved about her suitability to steer the workplace, which was established beneath the watch of former Mayor Eric Adams.
“Phylisa is a respected leader and powerful voice in the fight against antisemitism in New York City, Albany and across the country,” he stated. “Day in and day out, across all five boroughs, we will work together to root out antisemitism and build a New York City where Jewish New Yorkers are safe, respected and free.”
Knowledge most not too long ago served as the manager director of the New York Jewish Agenda (NYJA), a liberal advocacy group that has been a vocal critic of Israel’s army actions in Gaza. Whereas NYJA strongly condemned the Hamas terror assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, it has additionally publicly referred to as for a halt to Israel’s army response.
The group spoke out towards the retaliation efforts as early as November 2023, simply weeks after the phobia assault that left 1,200 folks useless and tons of extra held hostage — saying it’s “deeply distressed by the approach being taken by the Netanyahu government.”
The NYJA has additionally opposed the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) “Mamdani Monitor,” launched after the mayor received final 12 months’s election, to trace and monitor the insurance policies, personnel appointments actions of his administration that might have an effect on the well-being of Jewish New Yorkers.
“This is a dangerous, divisive and unproductive approach from the ADL,” the group stated in a web-based assertion in regards to the monitor.
Jewish leaders hit again on the Knowledge’s appointment on Feb. 5. An ADL spokesperson instructed New York News the group now has “serious concerns” in regards to the workplace’s capability to confront antisemitism beneath its new management.
“The director of this office serves as a critical voice for Jewish New Yorkers and plays a central role in ensuring their safety,” the spokesperson stated. “ADL has shared concrete recommendations to strengthen the office’s effectiveness and protect the entire community, without exception or qualification.”
Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Basis for Ethnic Understanding, criticized Knowledge for opposing the extensively adopted definition of antisemitism.
“The leader of the Office to Combat Antisemitism must understand a basic truth. Israel cannot be bifurcated from Judaism,” Schneier stated. “Ms. Wisdom’s opposition to the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of antisemitism, adopted by 50 nations worldwide and 37 of 50 states in America, calls that understanding into question.”
The IHRA definition of antisemitism is in depth, however shortened, it’s described as a “certain perception of Jews” that may be expressed as hatred.
New York News contacted Knowledge to inquire in regards to the declare that she opposes the IHRA definition and is awaiting a response.
Knowledge, whereas on the NYJA, advocated for laws in Albany to fight antisemitism and different types of hate. She additionally testified earlier than the NYC Council in help of funding for hate-crime prevention, the mayor’s workplace defined.
Her appointment was welcomed by different elected officers, together with Metropolis Comptroller Mark Levine, a former colleague of Knowledge.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Phylisa during her tenure at NYJA, and have found her to be consistently smart, open-minded, and collaborative,” he stated. “I admire her ability to build bridges in the Jewish community, and beyond, at a time when this is sorely needed.”
The NYC Council’s combat towards antisemitism
In the meantime, Metropolis Council Speaker Julie Menin has taken on her personal battle towards hate in forming the brand new Process Pressure to Fight Antisemitism, chaired by Council Member Eric Dinowitz of the Bronx. Council Member Inna Vernikov, a Republican from Brooklyn, can be a part of the duty drive.
The council’s initiative is completely different from the mayor’s Workplace to Fight Antisemitism in that it’ll concentrate on legislative coverage and motion to deal with rising antisemitism within the metropolis.
The mayor’s actions towards antisemitism historically concentrate on citywide methods to cease anti-Jewish hate crimes, present liaisons to the Jewish group, and promote consciousness and training to counter bias.
Rabbi Schneier doubled down on the significance of recognizing the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism as public metropolis coverage.
“Eighty-one years after the liberation of Auschwitz, honoring the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust demands vigilance, moral clarity and the courage to speak out against those who choose to define and reformulate the definition of antisemitism in our day,” he stated.
