ADL says at least 20% of Mamdani transition appointees tied to anti-Zionist groups

At least 20% of those whom Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, has named to his transition committee are connected to anti-Zionist groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The nonprofit said earlier in the week that it reviewed more than 400 appointees that Mamdani has named to 17 transition committees.

One-fifth or more of those appointees have ties to “groups that openly promote terror and harass Jewish people,” such as Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and Within Our Lifetime, according to the ADL. The same number have shared anti-Zionist or anti-Israel statements, the ADL said.

The ADL also found four Mamdani appointees with ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has long made antisemitic statements.

“The composition of these transition committees will directly influence the administration’s policies and approach to Jewish community concerns, and the current appointments raise serious questions as to whether those concerns will not be adequately represented or addressed,” the ADL stated.

Mamdani told reporters that the ADL report “oftentimes” ignores what he said is the distinction between antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government.

Scott Richman, director of the ADL’s New York and New Jersey office, said that Mamdani “will most certainly condemn” something he sees as antisemitic, but “his view of what’s antisemitism is less expansive than what the mainstream Jewish community’s view is of what is antisemitism.”

© JNS