The political fault lines surrounding Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani are becoming clearer—and deeper—as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its second “Mamdani Monitor” report on Monday, intensifying scrutiny over his transition team and the ideological undercurrents shaping his incoming administration.
The latest ADL report takes aim at more than 400 individuals appointed by Mamdani to transition committees, highlighting a series of social media posts and affiliations that the group says “raise serious concerns” for the safety and representation of the Jewish community in New York City.
Among the findings: posts that allegedly justify violence under the label of “resistance” following the October 7, 2021 Hamas terror attack, images depicting Israel as a dog, and ties to the Nation of Islam and its leader Louis Farrakhan, a figure widely condemned for antisemitic rhetoric. At least one appointee reportedly praised Farrakhan and attended a 2022 event where the NOI leader allegedly ranted about “the Jews and their power.”
While Mamdani’s transition committee members are volunteers, not salaried staff, the fallout is real. Just last week, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, Mamdani’s director of appointments, was forced to resign after the ADL unearthed a tweet where she referred to Jews as “money hungry.” Now, with new names flagged—and the language in the report increasingly sharp—the tension between Mamdani’s progressive base and Jewish advocacy groups is rapidly escalating.
🚨JUST IN – REPORTER: People on your transition team supported the killing of Jews after October 7th…will you reject them from your administration?
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: “…there’s a wide variety of political opinion.”
Wow. That’s BAD. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/5p9v5MdvJX
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 22, 2025
At a press conference on Monday, Mamdani responded with a familiar refrain: a call to distinguish antisemitism from criticism of Israeli policy. He accused the ADL of “drawing attention away from the very real crisis of antisemitism” by labeling political expressions—particularly anti-Zionist or pro-Palestinian sentiments—as hate speech.
That argument, while popular among the democratic socialist and activist left, is far from universally accepted—even within the Jewish community.
J Street, a left-leaning Jewish organization that supports a two-state solution and often clashes with more hawkish Jewish groups, offered a mixed response. While it criticized the scope and focus of the ADL’s “Mamdani Monitor,” calling it “overbroad” and “disproportionate,” it also condemned several statements unearthed in the report as “deeply troubling and violent.”
This is where the line becomes razor-thin: Is it antisemitic to oppose Zionism? To criticize Israel’s government? To question the morality of its policies? Not always. But where Mamdani’s team seems to have crossed into more dangerous territory is in posts that compare Zionists to Nazis, that romanticize violent resistance without context, or that ally with figures like Farrakhan, whose record speaks for itself.
What makes this even more explosive is Mamdani’s national profile. A democratic socialist, a vocal pro-Palestinian advocate, and a figure endorsed by prominent leftist groups, Mamdani represents a rising ideological wave on the progressive left—one that increasingly defines itself not just in opposition to conservative nationalism, but in opposition to the mainstream bipartisan consensus on Israel.
And yet, as he tries to govern the largest city in America, Mamdani now finds himself facing an uphill battle to reassure a deeply wary Jewish community, particularly in a city where antisemitic hate crimes have surged, and trust in leadership is brittle.
His decision to film a Hanukkah video and meet with Jewish leaders appears to be part of a calculated effort to soften that image. But his refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada”—a chant associated with violence against Jews in multiple global protests—has only deepened skepticism.
The ADL, for its part, says it will continue monitoring Mamdani’s appointments, statements, and policy moves as he prepares to take office. Whether this becomes a recurring political cudgel or a genuine watchdog effort remains to be seen. Either way, Mamdani now leads with a target on his back and a fracture within his own progressive coalition—between those who see criticism of Israel as sacred speech and those who believe some lines, once crossed, cannot be excused as politics.
