Anti-Defamation League Creates ‘Mamdani Monitor’ Tip Line for Antisemitism Reports

The Anti-Defamation League is facing backlash over what its critics have called unwarranted hostility toward Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, after the organization publicized a website and related tip line to monitor his administration for actions that could be construed as antisemitic.

The announcement of the initiative came after a closing stretch of the mayoral campaign during which Mr. Mamdani’s detractors, including Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the A.D.L., repeatedly accused him of antisemitism, a charge he has strongly rejected.

It is the latest in a series of controversial moves by the organization, which was founded in 1913 to fight antisemitism and other forms of prejudice, but which has adopted an increasingly antagonistic stance toward critics of Israel, including Mr. Mamdani.

On Wednesday, J Street, a liberal pro-Israel Jewish advocacy group, called the A.D.L. tracker “alarming” and criticized a statement by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a coalition of dozens of Jewish leaders, that referred to Mr. Mamdani’s election as “a grim milestone.” J Street argued that the groups taking aim at Mr. Mamdani had not applied the same scrutiny to President Trump, “despite his long record of using antisemitism and bigotry for political gain.”

J Street called on Jewish organizations to “engage constructively with the mayor-elect, not sow panic or demonize him,” adding, “We urge organizations such as the A.D.L. to lead with consistency and integrity, not selective outrage.”

In an interview, Mr. Greenblatt said the A.D.L.’s website and tip line were “not designed to criticize the mayor” but were instead “a data-driven approach that simply looks at the facts.”

“There is nothing inherently combative or critical about that,” he said.

The organization described the so-called Mamdani Monitor as “a public-facing tracker monitoring policies, appointments and actions by the Mamdani administration that impact Jewish community safety and security.”

It said the monitor would be fed, in part, by reports that came in through a new tip line that it said New Yorkers could use “to report antisemitic incidents in the city, including on the streets, in schools, in their workplace.”

Mr. Greenblatt dismissed the notion that his organization was applying a different standard to Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Trump, whom the A.D.L. has criticized at various points during his first and second administrations.

Mr. Greenblatt cited what he described as Mr. Mamdani’s unique record of hostility toward Israel as one reason to focus a monitoring initiative on the mayor-elect and not on the president.

“The reality is President Trump wasn’t elected on a track record that included a long animus to the Jewish state,” he said.

Mr. Mamdani responded to the A.D.L.’s announcement on Wednesday at his first news conference since the election, saying he took “the issue of antisemitism incredibly seriously.”

“I look forward to working with Jewish leaders across this city, whether they be elected officials, rabbis or community leaders, to deliver the promise of not just protecting Jewish New Yorkers but celebrating and cherishing them,” he said.

Mr. Mamdani added that he doubted Mr. Greenblatt would monitor his administration’s work in good faith.

“I think anyone is free to catalog the actions of our administration,” he said. “I have some doubts about Jonathan’s ability to do so honestly, given that he previously said I had not visited any synagogues, only to have to correct himself.”

Mr. Mamdani has drawn criticism from some Jewish organizations for his positions on Israel, many of which were once considered unthinkable for an elected official in New York.

They include his belief that Israel should be structured not as a Jewish state but as one with equal rights for people of all religions, and that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, a claim also made by a United Nations commission and many human rights groups.

Earlier in the campaign, Mr. Mamdani also appeared reluctant to condemn an activist phrase, “globalize the intifada,” that many Jews find threatening. (Mr. Mamdani has said he does not use the phrase himself and later said he would discourage its use by others.)

Mr. Mamdani addressed the concerns of some Jewish New Yorkers during his victory speech on Tuesday night, telling supporters, “We will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism.”

And on Wednesday, he condemned an incident of antisemitic graffiti at a Jewish school in Brooklyn, calling it “a disgusting and heartbreaking act of antisemitism” that “has no place in our beautiful city.”

In recent years, the A.D.L. has taken an increasingly conciliatory approach to the far right and a hard-line stance against critics of Israel.

Earlier this year, the group defended Elon Musk after he was accused of making a Nazi salute at a rally celebrating Mr. Trump’s inauguration, calling it “an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm.”

It also initially praised the Trump administration’s move to arrest and deport pro-Palestinian student activists, a position it shifted after backlash.

But the group’s attitude has done little to shield it from the ire of conservatives, who were enraged to discover after the assassination of the activist Charlie Kirk that the group he founded, Turning Point USA, was included in an A.D.L. database of extremist groups. Soon after, the A.D.L. said it would “retire” the database “effective immediately.”

On Wednesday, the A.D.L. tip line and monitoring effort was the subject of a tense exchange between Mr. Greenblatt and Joe Scarborough, the centrist MSNBC host.

Mr. Scarborough accused Mr. Greenblatt of implying that Mr. Mamdani had failed to denounce violent attacks against Jews, including the firebombing death of an older woman at a Colorado vigil for Israeli hostages in Colorado, which Mr. Mamdani described at the time as “horrific.” Mr. Greenblatt denied having done so.

“There’s a lot of blurring and blending here, Jonathan,” Mr. Scarborough told him. “And, you know, I love you and you’re on all the time. And we’re always a fierce defender of yours. But you seem to be like, blurring a lot of things together.”

Mr. Scarborough suggested that there could be more productive ways to influence the incoming mayor than a tracker.

“How about you calling his team? Mamdani’s team? Or how about talking to people who may know him and you?” Mr. Scarborough said. “Maybe you guys can get together and have lunch and talk. Isn’t that a more constructive thing to do?”

“Let’s see if that happens,” Mr. Greenblatt replied. “That would be great. Look, I am willing to have conversations, hard conversations, because my job is to keep the community safe.”