Zohran Mamdani
Taking a major decision after being sworn in as the New York Mayor, Zoharan Mamdani on Thursday, January 1, revoked two executive orders – one that banned agencies from taking part in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and another adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
Mamdani’s move is significant because former Mayor Eric Adams had signed an executive order in June 2025 mandating the use of the IHRA definition as a guideline for city agencies in addressing anti-Jewish hate incidents.
Mamdani’s decision removes this specific framework as New York City’s primary tool for identifying antisemitism.
Apart from the IHRA order, Mamdani also abolished the the city’s anti-BDS executive order, which had prohibited city agencies from boycotting or divesting from Israel. In abolishing the executive orders, Mamdani acted upon promises that were central to his campaign in the build up to the elections.
Another order that has been revoked instructed the New York Police Department (NYPD) to reassess how it handles protests at houses of worship, a move Adams took after a vitriolic demonstration outside a synagogue, although a subsequent executive order from Mamdani included similar instructions to the police.
Mamdani became Mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.
A Democrat, he was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city’s first Muslim mayor.
After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani then returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday for a grander public inauguration where US Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the Mayor’s political heroes, administered the oath for a second time.
This post was last modified on January 2, 2026 1:45 pm