In the US, Israeli Consul General Akunis compares Mayor Mamdani’s stance to Third Reich tactics
In the United States, Israel’s Consul General in New York, Ofir Akunis, compared New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s support for the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel to the tactics of the Third Reich. The diplomat also called Mamdani an antisemite and stated that he allegedly bears direct responsibility for attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in the city, The Jerusalem Post reports.
Revocation of the executive order against BDS
In an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency ahead of Rosh Hashanah, Akunis mentioned Mamdani’s decision on his first day in office to revoke an executive order by previous mayor Eric Adams directed against the BDS movement. This movement advocates for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
Commenting on criticism of his comparisons, Akunis said that he was not equating the current situation with the horrors of the Holocaust. At the same time, he said that referring to history was necessary to understand how antisemitism intensified. The consul general also claimed that Mamdani had called the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, “monsters” and considered such rhetoric dehumanizing.
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Reactions from Jewish organizations
Margot Hughes-Robinson, executive director of the liberal organization New York Jewish Agenda, called the comparison with Nazi Germany unproductive and offensive to the memory of the Holocaust, its victims and survivors. According to her, public leaders should avoid inflammatory statements; she described both Akunis’s remarks and a widely circulated video of Mamdani criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as political point-scoring.
Michael Miller, former head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, expressed sympathy for the difficulty of Akunis’s position. According to Miller, the diplomat represents Israel before a mayor who, in his view, does not recognize the legitimacy of that state.
The right-wing Zionist Organization of America supported the consul general’s statements and linked the increase in attacks on Jews to Mamdani’s public rhetoric. Akunis said that he had not met with Mamdani and would not do so until the mayor recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. Mamdani previously said that Israel has the right to exist as a state with equal rights for all, but that he cannot support states that give preference to one religion over others.
