Mamdani’s $30 Million Antisemitism Plan Funds Coalition That Includes Anti-Israel Group

Breaking

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new $30 million plan to fight antisemitism is drawing fresh scrutiny after a Fox News Digital report found that part of the money will flow to a coalition that includes the Arab American Association of New York, a group that has been sharply critical of Israel and of U.S.-Israel ties. The plan directs a $6.4 million grant to Partners Against the Hate, known as PATH, a city-backed network of community organizations that counts the Arab American Association of New York among its partners.

The report, published Wednesday morning, lands as antisemitic hate crimes remain the single largest category of hate crimes tracked by the NYPD. The city recorded 181 antisemitic hate crimes in the first eight months of 2026, including 131 felony-level offenses. Mamdani’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on whether the group’s involvement undercuts an initiative meant to protect Jewish New Yorkers.

Details & Background

Mamdani unveiled the strategy on Sept. 29, pledging more than $30 million for hate-crime prevention, survivor support, security for synagogues and Hebrew schools, Jewish cultural institutions and Jewish history education. According to The Center Square, the package includes the $6.4 million PATH grant, $4.5 million for Jewish cultural institutions including the city’s Holocaust memorial, and $1 million for synagogue and Hebrew school security and Jewish history education. “Antisemitism has no place in New York City,” Mamdani said at the announcement. The strategy does not adopt a single definition of antisemitism, and Mamdani had already revoked former Mayor Eric Adams’ executive order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The Arab American Association of New York was formerly led by Women’s March co-founder Linda Sarsour. According to Fox News Digital, the group has given more than $223,000 to CAIR-NY since 2021 and backed Mamdani’s “Not On Our Dime” legislation, a state bill aimed at restricting New York nonprofits from sending donations to Israeli settlement activity. The group’s executive director, Marwa Janini, has called on the City Council to pass a Gaza ceasefire resolution, writing that it must act “to end this U.S.-funded genocide and bring hope and stability to Gaza.” The association was also one of PATH’s partner organizations when former Mayor Bill de Blasio launched the program in 2021 with $3 million split among its members.

Reactions

Major Jewish organizations had already raised alarms when the plan was first unveiled. In a joint statement, UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the American Jewish Committee and the New York Board of Rabbis said: “While the Mayor’s plan has a number of positive elements, including some increased security funding for Jewish institutions and expanding proven programs, it fails to address a central issue that the Mayor himself has perpetuated: rhetoric that demonizes and delegitimizes Israel inevitably leads to the targeting of Jewish New Yorkers.” Rabbi Rick Jacobs of the Union for Reform Judaism added: “For this effort to be effective, Mayor Mamdani must also commit to stopping his harsh anti-Israel rhetoric that makes Jewish New Yorkers vulnerable as there are clearly times when antisemitic attacks are fueled by anti-Zionism.”

The Anti-Defamation League said the plan “does not treat the hate facing Jewish New Yorkers as an emergency and refuses to acknowledge the different shapes it takes.” The ADL has also previously said, “We profoundly reject Linda Sarsour’s positions that delegitimize Israel.” City Hall, for its part, has defended the plan. Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, said it “brings the full power of city government to the work of preventing hate, supporting survivors, protecting Jewish institutions, educating New Yorkers and celebrating Jewish life.” Mamdani has said that in meetings across the five boroughs, he heard the same message repeatedly: “antisemitism is real, and it is growing.”

Why This Matters to You

This is a question of how public money is spent and whether it actually reaches the people it is meant to protect. New York City is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, and antisemitic crimes there now outpace every other category of hate crime the NYPD tracks. When a program sold as a defense of Jewish residents routes money through a coalition that includes a group whose leadership has accused Israel of genocide, taxpayers and Jewish families have every reason to ask who is setting the priorities and how the results will be measured.

The controversy also reaches far beyond one city budget line. The debate over whether anti-Israel rhetoric fuels attacks on Jewish Americans is playing out on college campuses, in statehouses and in Congress, and New York’s approach is being watched nationwide. If the country’s largest city cannot fight antisemitism without sending money to allies of Israel’s harshest critics, it raises a serious test of accountability for every government that claims to be standing up for Jewish citizens.