New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani selected Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the progressive Zionist group New York Jewish Agenda and a critic of yeshiva education, to helm the city’s Office to Combat Antisemitism.

Jewish Insider first reported in January that the administration was considering Wisdom for the job. But a source also told JI earlier this week that her past work as director of development and government affairs at Young Advocates for Fair Education (Yaffed) — which criticizes the quality of secular education in Hasidic schools — had initially given the mayor’s team some pause. Mamdani had sought the support of the Satmar Hasidic community during his campaign.

In her conversation with JI last month, Wisdom sketched what she described as a “comprehensive strategy” that the office, which former Mayor Eric Adams established in May 2025, could pursue.

The antisemitism office could be “coordinating between long-standing offices and agencies tasked with combating hate, and input from the diversity of New York’s Jewish community,” she said, outlining broad steps.

In her public commentary, Wisdom has criticized some extremist rhetoric and actions — such as the anti-Israel protest in Times Square the day following the Oct. 7 attacks, the slogan “from the river to the sea” and boycotts of people labeled “Zionists” — but also defended critics of Israel and opponents of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

A range of Jewish Democratic politicians and advocates, including top staffers from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office and the City Council, lauded Wisdom’s selection.

“Her Jewish values, tireless commitment to justice, and strong relationships & credibility across the community are precisely what we need in this role. Jewish safety is inextricable from everyone’s safety and our democracy,” said Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the progressive Jewish Council for Public Affairs and a New York Jewish Agenda board member.

However, some leaders in the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities privately bristled at Wisdom’s history at Yaffed, though several hesitated to speak publicly out of a reluctance to pick what they described as an unnecessary fight with the mayor’s office.

“Orthodox Jews are among those most frequently targeted by antisemitism and discrimination. Choosing a figure known for antagonizing the Orthodox community — someone who has publicly battled yeshivas — reflects a troubling disconnect from that reality, and from the promises Mayor Mamdani has repeatedly made to protect our community,” said one leader. . “At best, it is a deeply misguided decision. At worst, it is counterproductive and offensive.”

Some leaders based outside the five boroughs were more outspoken, particularly about Wisdom’s willingness to countenance anti-Zionist rhetoric and questioning of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

“Saying anti-Zionism is not antisemitism does not reflect the reality of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers,” said Rabbi Marc Schneier, founder of the Hampton Synagogue. “Eighty-one years after the liberation of Auschwitz, honoring the 6 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.”

Wisdom, whose official appointment was first reported in the Forward, will replace Adams’ executive director of the office, Moshe Davis. 

The Columbia University task force overseeing efforts to combat antisemitism on campus released its fourth and final report on Tuesday, spotlighting Columbia’s lack of full-time Middle East faculty who are not explicitly anti-Zionist.

According to the report, “Columbia lacks full-time tenure line faculty expertise in Middle East history, politics, political economy and policy that is not explicitly anti-Zionist.” The absence of ideological diversity is having an impact on course offerings — in listening sessions, the task force said it heard from students that classes at the university more often than not treat Zionism as entirely illegitimate. 

The report calls on the university to “work quickly to add more intellectual diversity to these offerings” and to “establish new chairs at a senior level in Middle East history, politics, political economy and policy.” 

Furthermore, it claims that “academic resources available for teaching and research on Jewish and Israeli topics at Columbia are insufficient, especially in comparison to the resources available for teaching and research on other parts of the Middle East. The University should work quickly and energetically to build up its capabilities here, through academically first-rate full time tenure line additions to the faculty and the curriculum.” 

The report also cites numerous instances in which the academic freedom of Jewish and Israeli students was not protected in classrooms and suggests remedies — while trying to find a delicate balance between allowing for free expression and cracking down on discrimination.

“We urge the University to protect freedom of expression to the maximum extent possible while also complying with antidiscrimination laws,” states the report, titled The Classroom Experience at Columbia: Protecting the Academic Freedom of Faculty and Students. “Censorship has no place at Columbia. Neither does discrimination.”

Columbia University Acting President Claire Shipman said in a statement on Tuesday that the university will “continue to work on implementing the recommendations of the task force and addressing antisemitism on our campus.”

“We have also been working this semester to focus on discrimination and hate more broadly on our campuses — which has long been a strong recommendation of the task force. All of this work must become part of our DNA,” said Shipman. 

Columbia’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism was formed in November 2023 as a response to a surge of antisemitism on campus that began as an immediate response to the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel. Throughout the following two years of war in Gaza, scenes of masked anti-Israel protesters barging into classrooms and hourslong demonstrations in the center of campus calling for an “intifada revolution” became commonplace at Columbia, which has faced some of the worst antisemitic incidents of any college campus since Oct. 7. 

The new report is the first one released since Columbia reached a deal with the Trump administration in July to restore some $400 million in federal funding. 

The funding was frozen by the government in March due to the university’s record dealing with antisemitism. The campus has seen less turbulence since the deal was struck and reforms aimed at combating antisemitism — some based on the task force’s earlier recommendations — were announced over the summer.  

The 13-member task force, which is led by by Ester Fuchs, professor of international and public affairs and political science; Nicholas Lemann, professor of journalism and dean emeritus of Columbia Journalism School; and David Schizer, professor of law and economics and dean emeritus of Columbia Law School, suggested a range of free expression and anti-discrimination policies that Columbia could adopt.

Among the recommendations are that the university disclose, before students enroll in a course, if the material has the potential to cause students to feel excluded or silenced. If students are not aware in advance, or if it is a required course, and a controversial topic — such as the Middle East — is not the stated topic, “it’s not appropriate to make it a central part of the course,” the report states.  

The authors write that academic freedom “entails openness to scholars and students from other countries.” As such, the report states that boycotts of faculty, students, researchers or scholars from other countries “are not consistent with academic freedom.” The academic boycott movement consistently targets Israel, “proposing to restrict the research, teaching, and studying opportunities available to a cohort whose members are overwhelmingly Jewish,” the report continues. Student protesters at Columbia have frequently demanded that the university end its partnership with Tel Aviv University.   

In addition, the task force calls for consistency across all university anti-discrimination policies to include Jewish and Israeli students and for applying anti-discrimination policies in regards to classroom disruptions targeting students or instructors for their identity in a protected class.

The latest report builds upon a series of earlier ones released by the antisemitism task force in March 2024, August 2024 and June 2025, each offering solutions to a different key issue impacting Jewish students at the Ivy League university. Each report was based in part on two dozen listening sessions the task force conducted with hundreds of Jewish and Israeli students at Columbia. 

The 70-page fourth and final report includes recommendations from the three prior reports and recaps several of the most egregious incidents of antisemitism in the classroom at Columbia since Oct. 7. Those include reports of several instructors encouraging their students, during class, to participate in the 2023-24 academic year’s anti-Israel protests. Some professors held their classes or office hours within anti-Israel encampments (where in several cases it was indicated Zionists were not welcome).

Editor’s note: After publication, Columbia’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism updated language in the report to read: “Columbia would benefit from full-time tenure line faculty expertise in Middle East history, politics, political economy and policy that is not explicitly anti-Zionist.”

Facing pressure from the Virginia Jewish community to speak out against recent anti-Zionist social media posts from state Del. Sam Rasoul, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, addressed concerns about antisemitism without specifically referencing Rasoul. 

“This war continues to unleash heartbreak and tragedy as we witness civilian deaths, starving families, and hostages still held by Hamas. These horrors rightly compel so many to advocate for the mass delivery of aid, the release of all Israeli hostages, and a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel,” Spanberger told the Virginia Scope, a political newsletter, in response to a question about Rasoul, who chairs the Education Committee in the House of Delegates. “However, one can and must denounce these tragedies without using antisemitic language, whether intentional or not.” 

She did not specify whether she identified Rasoul’s rhetoric as antisemitic. Spanberger’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Jewish Insider. 

Rasoul, a Palestinian-American legislator who represents Roanoke, has in recent weeks taken to social media to call Zionism “evil” and said that it is “making the world less safe for my Jewish friends.”  

In her statement to the Virginia Scope, Spanberger acknowledged the recent rise of antisemitic violence in America.

“Just recently, antisemitic language led to attacks on peaceful protestors in Colorado and the murder of two Israeli Embassy staff members — as well as a growing, pervasive sentiment of fear among our Jewish neighbors. We must recognize our shared commitment to peace and work to rebuild trust in our communities,” she said. 

Rasoul’s rhetoric has drawn criticism from some other Virginia Democrats, including former House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who told JI this week that he “forcefully reject[s] any claim that Zionism — the desire of Jewish people to have a state of Israel — is inherently racist or evil.” 

State Sen. Schuyler VanValkenbuerg, a Democrat from the Richmond area, echoed Kaine’s sentiments.
“The current Israeli government deserves condemnation for its actions in Gaza. But the claim that Zionism is inherently evil deserves to be forcefully rejected. It’s wrong and it’s dangerous,” VanValkenburg posted on X on Thursday.

Democrat Jeff Grayzel, a leader in northwest New Jersey Jewish communal organizations and deputy mayor of Morris Township, N.J., formally launched his congressional campaign this week, running as a staunchly pro-Israel candidate in the seat that will be vacated by Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) if she wins the state’s gubernatorial race.

“I am a proud Jew and a proud Zionist, and I plan to run this race for Congress as such, as a proud Jew and as a proud Zionist. I am not going to shy away from it and everybody will know,” Grayzel said in an interview with Jewish Insider last week. “I think we need leaders that are going to be more bold in addressing antisemitism in our country, and we need leaders who are going to push harder for a comprehensive solution in the Middle East, so that Israel can once and for all live in peace.”

He formally filed to run for the seat, in the 11th Congressional District, on Tuesday, but has been publicly exploring a run for over a month. Grayzel said he will not run against Sherrill should she lose the gubernatorial race.

Grayzel, a two-term former mayor, is a board member of his local Jewish community relations council, chairs the local federation’s Jewish civic leadership initiative, is a founding member of its “community leaders against hate” program, is a member of his synagogue board and is a member of the Jewish Museum in New York City.

He said that the genesis for his campaign came in part during a talk at the Jewish Museum by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue. Cosgrove discussed the story of Purim and the way that Esther, its main protagonist, stepped up to change history.

“Rabbi Cosgrove challenged the audience of over 200 people to find a space in their life — because Jews are under attack on every front … to find a space in their life big or small where you have the opportunity to step into a moment where you can make a difference,” Grayzel said. “I used that as a calling for me to run for Congress.”

The House candidate described the Senate Democrats who voted last week to halt certain arms sales to Israel as “short-sighted” about “what Israel’s partnership in a big, broad sense means to our country, and the importance of having Israel as a continued ally.” 

He said that it also “saddens” him as an American and a Democrat to see the Democratic Party moving in an anti-Israel direction. 

“I’m going to go to Washington to try to steer the Democratic Party back to center,” Grayzel said — on a variety of issues. “Part of that is steering the Democratic Party back to understanding how important Israel is.”

He said that the U.S. should never condition aid to Israel or other allies.

“Hamas is evil, and they weaponized human suffering and continue to use civilians as human shields. And we wouldn’t be in the current mess if they hadn’t started the war and taken hostages, and if they released the hostages, we could come to a ceasefire,” Grayzel said. “They’re weaponizing their people, they’re weaponizing the food, and it’s a total tragedy.”

Grayzel said that his most central focus regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza is freeing the hostages. He says he frequently wears hostage dog tags and a hostage ribbon pin, and that every discussion he has about Israel “starts with bringing the hostages home.” He called for more pressure on Hamas and its backers.

He said that it’s important to focus on the fact that the war began and continues because of Hamas, that the war cannot end until the hostages are released and that Hamas’ attacks on Israel date back well before Oct. 7, 2023.

“Hamas is evil, and they weaponized human suffering and continue to use civilians as human shields. And we wouldn’t be in the current mess if they hadn’t started the war and taken hostages, and if they released the hostages, we could come to a ceasefire,” he continued. “They’re weaponizing their people, they’re weaponizing the food, and it’s a total tragedy.”

He said that the Israeli government has also failed in living up to the highest moral standards in providing humanitarian aid in Gaza. “We can’t let the situation in Gaza degrade to the point that we’ve let it degrade to. … It is clear that the people of Gaza are under duress. They’re not in their homes, they’re living in tents, and they’re hungry.”

But, he reiterated, “there’s going to be no end to this until the hostages are home.”

He said that his criticisms of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu do not negate the fact that he still “love[s] Israel, because I think that healthy democracies and healthy relationships in general require that we speak out when we think something is wrong.”

He said that, despite his differences with Netanyahu, he believes that the prime minister deserves credit for Israel’s transformation into a leading global economy, though he added that Netanyahu’s current coalition is “disastrous.”

While in college, Grayzel studied abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and interned at Israel Aircraft Industries.

Grayzel said that, despite his disagreements with President Donald Trump, Trump deserves credit and gratitude for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, for the Abraham Accords, for using U.S. assets to defend Israel from Iranian attacks and for ordering strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“When they do things right, we need to acknowledge that they do things right,” Grayzel said. “I stand firmly behind President Trump’s order to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities.”

He described the U.S. and Israel as having done the “dirty work for the rest of the world to literally save Western civilization” from the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Grayzel said that, in the long term, he wants to see a regional peace plan to address conflicts throughout the region, including those between Israel and Iran and the Palestinians. He said he wants to see Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords and become “part of the solution” between Israel and the Palestinians. He said that comprehensive regional and global negotiations are necessary to permanently resolve the conflict.

He added that unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state, as some U.S. allies plan to do, is not a real solution.

He also called for “maximum pressure” on the Iranian regime until it changes course, noting that the Iranian people are also victims of the regime’s governance.

Grayzel said more broadly that transitioning toward a sustainable energy economy will undermine U.S. adversaries like Russia and China, which rely heavily on oil and oil revenues. He said he also sees oil money as driving global Islamist radicalization efforts and as fueling antisemitic protests in the United States, including through funding anti-Israel Middle Eastern studies programs at U.S. colleges and universities.

“This is what’s funding all of this chaos around the world,” Grayzel said. “If we can reduce the demand for oil, we will reduce the dollars that these countries have to fund the terror. … [The world] will be a cleaner place, but it will also be a safer place when we are on clean energy.”

Grazyel said that the current antisemitism crisis in the United States is particularly personal to him because his son was a Columbia University student.

“I really think Columbia needed to be hit over the head. It’s unfortunate they were not listening to … parents, all of the communal organizations in New York City … none of it moved the needle, none of it. And it just continued on, day after day with no change,” Grayzel said. “Something needed to happen. And President Trump took the action. Whether he went too far, I think we’ll wait to see what happens. … But something needed to give with these universities.”

“He had to run a gauntlet to get onto campus,” Grayzel said. “Oftentimes, campus was shut down and he couldn’t go to the library. He had to endure the shouting and screaming and try really, really hard not to internalize it. But he had friends that would come home crying every day. They had cry sessions back in the dorm for these kids who just couldn’t take it anymore.”

He said he’s also been disturbed by antisemitism on campus at Rutgers, the New Jersey state university.

In contrast to many Democrats, Grayzel offered some praise for the actions the Trump administration had taken toward Columbia. 

“I really think Columbia needed to be hit over the head. It’s unfortunate they were not listening to … parents, all of the communal organizations in New York City … none of it moved the needle, none of it. And it just continued on, day after day with no change,” Grayzel said. “Something needed to happen. And President Trump took the action. Whether he went too far, I think we’ll wait to see what happens. … But something needed to give with these universities.”

He said he’s hopeful that Trump does not use such actions “as a cudgel in another way” and that Jews will not take the blame for universities losing funding. He said he does not believe in defunding universities permanently, in dismantling the Department of Education or in defunding scientific research at universities and elsewhere.

“I think we need to lean further into what our universities can do for us, but [they have] to be safe spaces for everybody,” he continued.

Grayzel testified before the New Jersey state legislature in support of legislation codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, a bill which has become a point of division among some Democrats.

“Synagogues being desecrated. Jews being attacked. This isn’t just happening in far away places. It’s happening right here and right now in New Jersey. This is not the vision of America that our country’s founders, many of whom came from this great state, had in mind,” Grayzel told the legislators. “We are on the precipice, and we must move quickly to ensure that New Jersey and all of America remain a place where all forms of hate are quickly and loudly condemned.”

He said that passing the bill would be the first step to send a message “that hate has no home in New Jersey.”

Grayzel told JI he wants to work with colleagues in Washington who don’t have sizable Jewish constituencies to help them better understand the challenges that Jewish Americans are facing, “to try to personalize the situation and make it feel real for them.”

“We need to condemn the phrase, ‘globalize the intifada,’” Grayzel said, calling the phrase “clearly hate speech.” “For [Mamdani] not to condemn that in a city that contains so many Jews is very, very scary.” 

“I think there needs to be a lot more bridge-building across the parties … on issues that affect all of us, and antisemitism is one of them,” he said. “It’s personal for me. I’m not just talking as a Jew who sees other Jews under attack. My family’s been under attack.”

Grayzel also said he’s been concerned by New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, noting that what happens in New York City has a “profound impact” on the Jewish community in northern New Jersey.

“We need to condemn the phrase, ‘globalize the intifada,’” Grayzel said, calling the phrase “clearly hate speech.” “For [Mamdani] not to condemn that in a city that contains so many Jews is very, very scary.” 

He added he’s concerned Mamdani’s refusal to forcefully condemn such rhetoric will create permission for other candidates to follow in his footsteps.

Grayzel argued that the 11th District special election — which would happen if Sherrill wins — will be one of the first major bellweathers of the Democratic Party’s direction after the New York City mayoral race. He said he hopes the upcoming elections will show there’s “space in the Democratic Party” for moderates like himself and Sherrill who will stand up against antisemitism.

He would likely face stiff competition in the race — Chatham Borough Councilman and Iraq veteran Justin Strickland has already filed to run, former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) has expressed interest in the race, and a slew of others are also seen as potential candidates

Grayzel was the first Democrat to win a local government race in his town since the early 1970s, and said he first ran for office because he was “pissed off” and believes that “it’s imperative for you to be part of the solution if you want to complain.” 

Democrats gained control of the city council in 2018, and Grayzel became mayor, which he said showed him “how much good you can do when you’re in a position of power.” He later ran, unsuccessfully, for state Senate in 2021. Now he says he sees an opportunity in Congress that he doesn’t want to let pass.

Outside of Israel and antisemitism, Grayzel said he anticipates leveraging his experience as an engineer to focus on building an innovation economy in the United States, which he said includes improving education and infrastructure. He said he wants to “[build] bridges” and be a “problem solver” in Washington.

He said he also wants to work toward immigration reform and find a way for long-term immigrants who have been living law-abiding lives in the country for years to receive permanent status. He said he wants to push Republicans to handle the immigration issue “in a humane way.”

Grayzel said that his focus on immigration is also derived from his Jewish values and the Jewish-American immigrant experience.

A new coalition of pro-Israel LGBTQ activists is backing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as its first choice in a ranked slate of candidate endorsements for New York City mayor, according to a statement shared exclusively with Jewish Insider on Thursday.

“Amidst the unprecedented rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment and activity within our city, we, LGBTQ Zionists of New York, feel a deep responsibility to share our endorsements for the Democratic primaries,” the group said in its announcement. “We believe it is essential to elect champions of both the gay community and of Zionists — those who support the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and the existence of the State of Israel.”

The group cited Cuomo’s “longstanding support for LGBTQ rights and plan to address antisemitism in the city,” which includes, among other things, a vow to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism into city law.

Cuomo, the Democratic front-runner who often touts his support for Israel and has called rising antisemitism “the most important issue” in the race, has been consolidating support from Jewish leaders in recent weeks, amid concerns over the increasing favorability of his top rival, Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens who has repeatedly refused to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and described himself as an anti-Zionist.

In the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, many Jewish and pro-Israel activists have increasingly felt unwelcome expressing their Zionism in LGBTQ spaces — where the ongoing war in Gaza has fueled rising anti-Israel sentiment that has also shaped the June 24 mayoral primary in New York.

“New York City is home to the largest LGBTQ community in America and the largest Jewish population outside of Israel,” the group said. “The stakes of this election are beyond historic — they’re personal. As we enter Pride Month, we are grateful for our selected candidates’ work thus far. We stand with immense pride as New Yorkers, as LGBTQ Jews, and as Zionists, and we will advocate for a future where we are seen, heard and celebrated for all that we are — and nothing less.”

In addition to Cuomo, the coalition ranked Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund executive who has been outspoken in his support for Israel and his criticism of rising antisemitism, as its second pick for mayor. Brad Lander, the Jewish city comptroller who has long identified as a “progressive Zionist,” is its third choice, followed by Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn, and Scott Stringer, a former comptroller who is also Jewish.

The coalition represents hundreds of LGBTQ activists in New York City from a broad range of organizations, a spokesperson told JI. The group, which says it plans to engage in get-out-the-vote efforts in the final leg of the race, is led by Roniel Tessler and Alex Kaufman, who were motivated to pursue grassroots LGBTQ Zionist organizing following the Oct. 7 attacks.

The group also endorsed several downballot candidates, including Mark Levine, the Jewish Manhattan borough president now running for comptroller; Jenifer Rajkumar, a Queens state assemblywoman hoping to unseat Jumaane Williams in the race for public advocate; and Patrick Timmins, who is mounting a campaign against the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg.

In a heated City Council race in Park Slope, the group threw its support behind Maya Kornberg, a Jewish political scientist now challenging Shahana Hanif, the incumbent, who has faced backlash from Jewish voters over her harsh criticism of Israel and alleged insensitivity to antisemitic incidents in her district.

“We are endorsing candidates who will confront, condemn and work to resolve the dangerous rise of antisemitism in our city, and ensure Jewish, LGBTQ and Zionist voices are protected and respected,” the group said in its statement on Thursday.