New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop, the Jersey City mayor, said at an event this week — and later reaffirmed on social media — that he opposes pending legislation in New Jersey that would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and cast doubt on the definition itself.

Fulop, who is Jewish and has touted his efforts to fight antisemitism in Jersey City and his support for Israel, has also recently come under scrutiny for campaigning with anti-Israel figures in the state.

“I’ve done lots of reading about this to come to the conclusion why I think that specific definition is counter-productive,” Fulop said on social media. “I say this in the context of someone who is Jewish, as someone who has a Jewish education, as someone who is a descendent of Holocaust survivors. As someone who is [a] continued supporter of the NJ-Israel Commission and someone that opposes BDS legislation.”

If elected, he said that he would not sign the IHRA bill, and said he had expressed that in a meeting with the American Jewish Committee recently.

“I oppose the bill because I think it will at best not have any effect on antisemitism and at worst increase it,” he continued.

Fulop said he believes the legislation is unnecessary because New Jersey already has broad hate crimes legislation in place, and said that having a definition of antisemitism but not any other forms of hatred “will only further anti-Semitic sentiment.”

He also suggested the legislation would infringe upon free speech and criticism of the Israeli government, and said that “you can’t legislate your way out of anti-[semitism] or hate. It gives us false hope that we can somehow solve this with laws.”

Fulop said that his view on the issue is “not a political answer pandering to anyone,” decrying what he alleged was political spin of his original comments. He added that anyone who interprets his view as a belief that Israel is committing genocide or that antisemitism is acceptable is incorrect.

“I know [people] always try to spin these conversations in a political way to damage or enhance someone else so I thought I would share my views directly here,” he said.

The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations praised Fulop’s stance, calling the IHRA definition “dangerous because it seeks to silence criticism of Israel’s mass killings of children and women in Palestine by falsely claiming that anti-genocide advocacy is antisemitic.”

The New Jersey chapter of CAIR justified the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel days after it happened.