The New York State Democratic Party passed a resolution condemning Jew-hatred earlier this month but failed to mention that in its public announcement, the New York Post reported earlier this week.
The resolution was approved shortly after Jay Jacobs, who is Jewish and pro-Israel, was reelected party chairman on Oct. 1. The party’s announcement about the leadership elections did not mention the measure.
“That was a mistake. We dropped the ball,” Jacobs told the Post about the party’s failure to publicize the measure. He attributed the omission to focus on internal party elections.
“I want the people to know what the New York Democratic Party is doing to confront antisemitism,” he told the Post. “It’s consequential.”
“Contemporary antisemitism often manifests through subtle rhetoric, coded language and dog whistles,” the resolution states.
It lists examples including “Holocaust denial and distortion, modern blood libels depicting Jewish people as inherently murderous or targeting children, conspiracy theories alleging Jewish control of governments, financial institutions, or the media, accusations of dual loyalty to Israel and the use of Israel as a pretext for hostility toward Jewish people or Jewish institutions.”
Inna Vernikov, a Jewish Republican member of the New York City Council and co-chair of its bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred, told JNS that the party of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, “would not have forgotten to publicize a resolution condemning any other form of hatred.”
“Condemning Jew-hatred is complicated and controversial in today’s Democratic Party,” Venrikov said. “The moderates could have used the measure’s wide support to take a firm stance against antisemitism. Unfortunately, they care more about appeasing the far-Left than about meaningfully protecting Jews.”
“Voters should take notes,” she told JNS.
The resolution further describes physical assaults on Jews, vandalism of Jewish institutions, Nazi symbols and threats against synagogues and schools as examples of overt Jew-hatred.
“No person should be subjected to violence, targeted discrimination, intimidation or harassment because of their religion, heritage or ethnicity,” it states.
The measure calls for additional resources to combat Jew-hatred, statewide educational initiatives about Jewish history and the Holocaust and adherence to its principles by Democratic candidates and officeholders.
JNS sought comment from the New York State Democratic Party.
The resolution also praises New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, for signing legislation addressing harassment outside houses of worship and Mamdani for increasing funding for the city’s Office of Hate Crime Prevention.
Jewish leaders have said that Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric puts Jews at risk. Anti-Jewish hate crimes surged 182% during Mamdani’s first month in office, and have accounted for more than half of the city’s religion-based hate crimes since then, even though Jews make up about 10% of New Yorkers.
The legislation Hochul signed in May establishes 50-foot buffer zones around houses of worship, religious schools and certain community centers, restricting harassment and intimidation by demonstrators.
In April, Mamdani vetoed a nearly identical measure that would have created security perimeters around educational institutions, including Jewish schools. The City Council, which had passed the measure without a veto-proof majority, subsequently passed a new version of the law.
The mayor said he allowed a separate measure requiring the NYPD to develop plans to protect access to houses of worship to become law without his signature, although it had passed the council with a veto-proof majority.
