The leader of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that fights antisemitism, is explaining his group’s decision to set up a special project to monitor Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City.
Mamdani is the first Muslim and person of South Asian descent elected to lead the nation’s largest city, which includes a Jewish population of well over 1 million people. He is also a critic of Israel and its war in Gaza. After his victory, the ADL took an unprecedented step: announcing an “initiative to track and monitor Mamdani administration policies and appointments.”
The project includes tracking actions by Mamdani’s administration “that impact Jewish community safety and security.” The ADL’s announcement also said it was setting up a citywide tip line for people to report antisemitic incidents in New York.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO and national director, discussed the move on NPR’s Morning Edition. Greenblatt was at the center of controversy in 2016, when the ADL questioned the rhetoric of President Trump’s first presidential campaign, and more recently during the Israel-Hamas war, when it accused pro-Palestinian protesters of using antisemitic messaging.
After the ADL announced its scrutiny of Mamdani, the mayor-elect told reporters, “I take the issue of antisemitism incredibly seriously.”
Mamdani continued: “I think anyone is free to catalog the actions of our administration. I have some doubts about Jonathan’s ability to do so honestly, given that he previously said I had not visited any synagogues, only to have to correct himself.”
You can hear the interview by clicking the blue button above and read highlights below:
Greenblatt acknowledges about a third of Jewish New Yorkers voted for Mamdani
Greenblatt contends that he wants to represent Jews who did not. “We want to make sure that our community fully understands what’s happening so that we can hold him accountable to the campaign promise he made to be the mayor for all New Yorkers, including Jewish New Yorkers.”
He said many Jews were concerned by Mamdani’s statements about Israel. Among other things, Mamdani has said that he would order New York police to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a future visit to New York. Netanyahu has been accused of war crimes over the war in Gaza by the International Criminal Court. Asked if he accepted the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, Mamdani said he supported Israel as “a state with equal rights.”
Greenblatt said that Americans could criticize Israeli policies without being antisemitic, but that Mamdani’s words have raised concerns. He said the mayor-elect applies a “double standard” to Israel because Mamdani has not raised human rights concerns about other countries in the same way.
The project to monitor Mamdani includes a tip line
In addition to monitoring “personnel policies and programs,” the ADL plans “a tip line for Jewish New Yorkers if they experience antisemitism.” It is not, Greenblatt said, an invitation for conspiracy theories about Mamdani, but a call for “real life incidents” of discrimination “so we can track them effectively and make sure law enforcement’s following up as appropriate.” The ADL alleges that Mamdani’s views may create a “permission structure” for antisemitic attacks at a time when they are on the rise.
Greenblatt says the project is not about Mamdani’s identity
The ADL leader said it was “repugnant” that some Republican lawmakers, such as Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, have called for a federal investigation of Mamdani to see if he can be deported. Mamdani was born in Uganda and is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
“Attacks on him based on his ethnicity or his faith are repellent,” Greenblatt said.
An ADL project to monitor a single official is unusual
Asked if the ADL has previously done so, Greenblatt responded, “We’ve certainly never had an elected official like this before.” He pointed to ADL criticism of the Trump administration that has taken other forms, including objecting to the nomination of Paul Ingrassia — a lawyer with ties to antisemitic extremists — to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. Ingrassia withdrew his nomination in October.
Asked if the ADL itself is applying a double standard with its special scrutiny of Mamdani, Greenblatt said, “This isn’t inherently pejorative. It’s simply saying in a moment of crisis like we’ve never had before, we’re going to be paying very close attention.”
The radio version of this story was edited by Reena Advani and produced by Taylor Haney.
Transcript:
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City prompted an unusual response from the Anti-Defamation League. The organization that fights antisemitism says it’s starting what it calls the Mamdani Monitor. It’s a special initiative to track what the new mayor does, and it also includes a tip line to report antisemitic incidents. Mamdani responded when talking with reporters on Wednesday.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I take the issue of antisemitism incredibly seriously. And last night in my speech, I spoke about how my city hall will stand steadfast with Jewish New Yorkers in fighting the scourge of antisemitism across this city.
INSKEEP: Mamdani is the first Muslim and first South Asian American elected New York’s mayor. He is also a critic of Israel’s war in Gaza. He said he would try to have the Israeli prime minister arrested for war crimes on his next visit to New York. Asked if he accepts Israel’s right to exist, he has said he accepts an Israel with equal rights for all. This drew the attention of Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL, who has spoken out against pro-Palestinian protesters ever since the October 7 attacks. In our conversation, Greenblatt acknowledged that about one-third of New York Jews voted for Mamdani. He says he represents the concerns of those who did not.
JONATHAN GREENBLATT: We want to make sure that our community fully understands what’s happening so that we can hold him accountable to the campaign promise he’s made to be the mayor for all New Yorkers, including Jewish New Yorkers.
INSKEEP: Does your project also include a tip line? Do I have that right?
GREENBLATT: It does. So there’s three parts to it. No. 1, the monitor, which will evaluate personnel policies and programs. No. 2, we’re doubling down our research to track this information. And then No. 3, a tip line for Jewish New Yorkers if they experience antisemitism. Our concern is that some of the positions the mayor-elect has taken over the years, some of the statements he’s made or not made, as it were, could create a permission structure for antisemitism.
INSKEEP: OK. So it’s not a tip line for people to call in their theories about Zohran Mamdani and his beliefs.
GREENBLATT: No.
INSKEEP: It is a tip line for people to give you their experiences.
GREENBLATT: Correct. We’re not interested in their theories on the mayor-elect. We’re interested in real-world situations, in real-life incidents, so we can track them effectively and make sure law enforcement’s following up as appropriate.
INSKEEP: Now, there’s a couple of categories that I think you mentioned when you talked about concerns about Mamdani and the Jewish community or in parts of the Jewish community. One is his views about Israel, and there is plenty that people could disagree with there.
GREENBLATT: Absolutely.
INSKEEP: He’s stood for BDS – boycott, divestment and sanctions – for example. But you also said, positions he’s taken about the Jewish community in New York. Which positions concern you?
GREENBLATT: Well, so we are concerned, for example, about his views on Zionism. Now, there’s nothing wrong with having strong opinions, being very critical about the state of Israel. But when you demonize its people, when you delegitimize its right to exist, when you hold it to double standards – so when Mayor-elect Mamdani says he’s going to implement BDS because of human rights violations, it’s reasonable to ask, why doesn’t he have the same view on all the other countries with whom the city of New York contracts that also have human rights violations?
INSKEEP: Just to be clear – because somebody listening will have this thought in their head, and I want you to respond to it – do you think it is acceptable to be critical and even fiercely critical of Israel and its policies and its conduct in the war in Gaza without being antisemitic?
GREENBLATT: So if you’re looking for a organization that is critical of the state of Israel without being antisemitic, I would direct you to adl.org. It worries me that today, when people are upset about what the state of Israel’s doing, where they somehow think it’s OK to bash Jewish people in the head. You know we’re a very data-driven organization. We released a study, and we found that over 50% of American Jews are hiding their identity in public. This is very, very real. In Brooklyn, at a synagogue, there were blood-red swastikas graffitied all over the physical space. Now, I don’t know who did it. I’m not sure what their logic was. But there’s a reason why every synagogue in America, Steve, now has bulletproof glass, cameras, guards. The community lives with a degree of fear that no community should live with.
INSKEEP: Have you set up a monitoring project like this previously for a specific elected official?
GREENBLATT: We’ve certainly never had an elected official like this before. But look, I mean, we’ve talked over the years. I’ve called out the Trump administration on a regular basis since 2016. We’ve called out nominees, whether it was Matt Gaetz for attorney general or Joe Kent to run the National Counterterrorism Center or Paul Ingrassia, who pulled back his own nomination for the Office of Special Counsel. So I simply want to track what’s going on so New Yorkers know and understand, and then they can make their own decisions. Look, this isn’t inherently pejorative. It’s simply saying, in a moment of crisis like we’ve never had before, we’re going to be paying very close attention.
INSKEEP: Because you raise the issue of double standards with Israel, some people will ask if you have a double standard here. You have been critical of Trump. You’ve been on this program and been critical…
GREENBLATT: Yes.
INSKEEP: …Of things that Trump did, but you didn’t set up a special monitoring project for the president of the United States.
GREENBLATT: Well, let me be clear. We have never had a moment like this where antisemitism is so high. This is the city in America with the most Jewish people. Let me stipulate. This mayor-elect, over the last six, seven months, has demonstrated a kind of pragmatism on issues related to the economy, on issues related to law enforcement. He has demonstrated a willingness to learn. On this issue, say, for example, on globalize the intifada, I don’t see that at all.
INSKEEP: There have been a lot of people who’ve criticized Mamdani in a lot of ways. There is a Republican lawmaker from Tennessee, Andy Ogles, member of Congress, who is not the only lawmaker to push for a Justice Department investigation of Mamdani to see if there’s a way to deport him, although he is a citizen.
GREENBLATT: I mean, that’s repugnant. It’s repugnant. I think, like, attacks on him based on his ethnicity or his faith are repellent. And we would certainly never engage in that.
INSKEEP: Have you reached out to Mamdani, his campaign or now his transition team?
GREENBLATT: Well, look, certainly my door is always open to meet with him. He has said publicly that he would not meet with Jonathan Greenblatt, that he thought there were, quote, “better representatives” of the Jewish community than Jonathan Greenblatt and the ADL. If he’s ready for a serious conversation about what he will do to protect Jewish New Yorkers, we absolutely would be prepared to have that conversation with him. Like I said, my door is open.
INSKEEP: Jonathan Greenblatt, it’s always a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much.
GREENBLATT: Thank you so much, Steve. I appreciate it.
(SOUNDBITE OF LARS DANIELSSON AND LESZEK MOZDZER’S “PRAYING”)
