Opinion: Calling balls and strikes on charges of antisemitism

As we find ourselves in the midst of New York City's municipal elections, there are two overlapping truths about antisemitism. First, antisemitism is real, and there is a documented, significant increase in its incidents. And second, some politicians and candidates are using the rise in antisemitism as a pretext to advance political agendas that have little, if anything, to do with Jewish safety or meaningfully combating hate.  

These are deeply challenging times for the American Jewish community. Jewish Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was firebombed on Passover, and in the last two weeks, there have been two incidents of serious violence targeting Jews, ostensibly as a protest of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Let us be clear: violence against American Jews at Jewish gatherings is antisemitism. Regardless of political beliefs, Jews are justifiably concerned and nervous about antisemitism, and are aware of the ways it’s been normalized in mainstream political discourse on both the right and the left. Jews on each side of the political spectrum accuse the other side of enabling it, and we – no matter our politics – are noticing the ways our pain and fear have been used as a disingenuous pretext to advance candidacies and issues that have little to do with actual solutions for our community.  

Jews are aligned that antisemitism is a problem that must be addressed. The Jewish community has a broad range of views on the most effective ways to combat antisemitism and what does or does not constitute “weaponizing” charges of antisemitism for a specific political gain other than Jewish safety. Nor does the community agree on whether Jews must always support the state of Israel or even what being supportive of Israel looks like. Mid-2024 polling shows that 94% of Jewish voters believe that you can be “pro-Israel” and also be critical of the Israeli government and policy, while 86% believe that you can be critical of the way Israel is conducting the war with Hamas and be pro-Israel.So why, in NYC elections in 2025, is antisemitism defined so narrowly? It must be possible to hold elected officials accountable to combating antisemitism, without ignoring the reality and nuance of where communal discourse is.

At NYJA, we will be calling out efforts to oversimplify or misconstrue the Jewish community’s wide-ranging positions on antisemitism and Israel. We believe that legitimate criticism of policies of the government of Israel is not inherently antisemitic, and those who weaponize it only undermine our efforts and put us in harm’s way.  

While it is not necessarily antisemitic to criticize Israel, there are those who are antisemitic who use criticism of Israel as a mask for their antisemitism. It can be very confusing to those who are witnessing the debate. We are committed to helping reasonable people understand the nuance.  

Our democracy is at stake. New York is on the front lines, defending against the antisemitic, anti-pluralistic and anti-democratic plans of the federal administration. Rather than weaponize charges of antisemitism and criticism of Israel against each other, we need candidates and elected officials to tell us how they plan to keep all of their constituents safe – including Jews – while maintaining the ever-important local government work of keeping our subways safe, labor force thriving and public health systems strong. Doing so requires a meaningful vision for Jewish safety and effectively working with a diverse set of other colleagues in government, across lines of difference. 

Weak or false charges of antisemitism against political opponents make people stop listening to our real, collective pain. If antisemitism is used by political people to cynically advance agendas that aren't actually about our safety, the end result is typically fewer protections against and less attention paid to real antisemitism, thus putting New York’s Jews in greater danger. Indeed, when antisemitism is used as a pretext to do harm to others or to undermine our deeply endangered democracy, our non-Jewish neighbors notice. This can threaten our carefully-built coalitions, which protect the very pluralistic democracy that keeps Jews and all New Yorkers safe. This is especially scary when candidates do the work of fracturing coalitions “on our behalf.” 

The bottom line is that the weaponization of antisemitism puts Jews in harm's way, by dismantling the guardrails against more serious antisemitic threats. 

It is understandable that our community is on edge. We are watching closely what our elected officials and candidates say and do, given that they are supposedly trying to speak directly to us. It’s why the entire ecosystem of Jewish organizations, including ours, are committed to staying in conversation with our leaders, ensuring they hear and understand the breadth of our views and needs. As a result of this, here in the most Jewish city in America at its most divisive political moment, it’s time to call out both the weaponization of antisemitism and the actual instances of antisemitism that are becoming more common than ever. We are eager to work with any leader serious about combating antisemitism, and we welcome good-faith efforts to counter the dangers faced by our community.