Moshe Davis
81 posts
@_moshedavis
Exec. Director @NYCMayor Office to Combat Antisemitism under @ericadamsfornyc | Prev. Rabbi at Manhattan Jewish Experience | Views my own
Strong words from @_moshedavis: “Writing this report at the end of 2025 is sobering. In the last few months, four deadly terror attacks have targeted Jews in the Diaspora: the Washington, D.C. shooting, the Boulder firebombing, the Manchester knife attack, and the Bondi Beach massacre. These were antisemitic attacks aimed at Jewish people - and Jewish New Yorkers are scared. It is the duty of government to understand the sources of this hatred and do everything in our power to stop it from metastasizing.” nyc.gov/content/dam/ny…
I just skimmed all 80 pages of the NYC Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism report. A brief summary of what actually seems to be a surprisingly good document: 🔸️This is not a study and not a symbolic condemnation of hate. It is a policy blueprint built on a blunt conclusion. Antisemitism in New York is not marginal or episodic. It is systemic, adaptive, and disproportionately violent. Treating it like just another category of bias has failed. 🔸️The numbers explain why. Jews are about 11 percent of New York City’s population. In 2024 they were victims of 54 percent of all hate crimes. In early 2025 that rose to 62 percent. That is not a perception issue. It is a governance failure. 🔸️The report’s core argument is that antisemitism cannot be fought with generic language and statements of concern. Cities are very good at condemning hate and very bad at building enforceable systems to stop it. This report is about fixing that. 🔸️It also states clearly something many officials avoid. Modern antisemitism is inseparable from attacks on Jewish self determination. Not all criticism of Israel is antisemitic and the report says that plainly. But pretending that delegitimizing Zionism has no connection to violence against Jews is contradicted by the data since October 7. Jews are not asked about their politics before being harassed or attacked. They are targeted as Jews. 🔸️The report is also unusually honest about government messaging. It criticizes laundry list condemnations and conditional statements that dilute or hedge when Jews are the victims. It argues that this kind of language makes Jewish safety conditional and negotiable. 🔸️The solution offered is not better rhetoric but infrastructure. A dedicated antisemitism office with authority. A clear definition through IHRA so agencies operate off the same reality. Closing enforcement gaps around protests targeting houses of worship. Preventing city funds from being used for discriminatory political campaigns. 🔸️The report is explicit that executive orders are not enough. If the city is serious, these policies must be written into law and enforced consistently. 🔸️This document is not trying to persuade activists. It is telling government what it must do if it actually intends to protect Jewish residents. 🔸️And it makes one final point that matters. Antisemitism is not only a Jewish issue. It is a test of whether a city can defend civil rights when the politics are ugly and the pressure is real.
