A new report has revealed that incidents of anti-Semitism have spiked in New York City’s schools amid the tenure of Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), which has been marked by a series of actions rolling back protections for Jews and targeting the state of Israel.

The group United Jewish Teachers issued a report earlier this week finding a “persistent pattern of hostility” toward Jewish students, teachers, and other school staff within the city. It compiled at least 250 “antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents” since the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel committed by Hamas, which mostly involved “direct acts of harassment, vandalism, and threats” but also included “biased curriculum and instructional materials, as well as disruptive events such as walkouts and protests.”

Moshe Spern, who serves as president of United Jewish Teachers, remarked during “Washington Watch” Thursday that the incidents have continued to rise since Mamdani, a Muslim and a socialist, became mayor in January 2026. “The biggest problem we’re seeing is that since October 7th, students, teachers — it’s been open season on them when it comes to hate against Jewish people. And we actually saw an uptick since Mamdani became mayor of New York City, which is quite interesting.”

A major facet of Mamdani’s tenure as mayor so far has indeed been a curious obsession with and apparent aversion to the state of Israel and the Jewish people. On his very first day in office, he overturned the executive order previously put in place by former Mayor Eric Adams that had instituted a definition of what constituted “anti-Semitism” developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). He also rolled back a directive that prohibited city employees from participating in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

As reported by The Times of Israel, Mamdani has also “repeatedly refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, stating he opposes Israel because he does not ‘recognize any state’s right to exist with a system of hierarchy on the basis of race or religion.’” Last month, Mamdani made further waves after he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a “war criminal” and the “architect of a horrific genocide” in Gaza. He further ranted that the prime minister “is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large” and pledged to have Netanyahu arrested if he entered the city.

This is the type of environment that Mamdani has created in NYC toward Jews, and the result appears to be real-world consequences for Jewish citizens of the city, particularly in schools, Spern pointed out.

“I think there’s a [anti-Semitic] sentiment still within our city,” he observed. “I live in New York City. You know, we see it time and time again. Israel comes up all the time. The mayor of New York City does a social media video two minutes long, … accuses Israel of committing genocide, which is not true at all. … Libeling … Netanyahu [as] a war criminal. We see that he calls supporters of … [the] bipartisan group AIPAC — they support Republicans and Democrats who support [Israeli] independence — he called them ‘monsters.’ … He is consistently bringing up Israel, never condemns Hamas, only condemns Israel. And the Jewish people are seeing the biggest impact from that. And the borough of Brooklyn, by the way, one of the five boroughs, saw the highest amount of attacks on Jewish teachers and students, and that has the largest amount of Jews living there, especially Orthodox Jews like myself.”

Spern went on to detail some of the incidents that have occurred in NYC schools. “These 250 incidents we’re talking about, they range from something like a 12th grader celebrating their acceptance of going to the IDF post-high school in May when students announced they’re going on acceptance day, and a student has been bullied for such a thing. We saw a Holocaust survivor denied to speak in a New York City middle school because of his views on Israel, which there were none. It was fabricated. But this was a view of a principal who didn’t want to have a Holocaust survivor in her school. [Other] incidents [include] a Palestinian flag being raised in the hallway of a school [and] students bringing Palestinian flags to graduation ceremonies, despite the fact there are actual rules in place not to have these things.”

Spern further noted “a clear pattern that administrators, whether they be superintendents or principals, failed to act appropriately. When swastikas are drawn in schools, they fail to call the New York Department of Education [or] the NYPD … to investigate and track these hate crimes. … Oftentimes, they erase, they cover [up], and they ignore swastikas and other forms of hate.”

As to recommended actions that the city and schools can take to combat the concerning trend, Spern advised that a clear definition of anti-Semitism must be reinstated. “[W]e suggested that the Department of Education … actually start having a definition of anti-Semitism. The IHRA definition … is the best definition of how to define anti-Semitism [which] Mayor Mamdani on January 1st revoked.”

Spern further underscored that school leadership in NYC must be educated on the ongoing threat that anti-Semitism poses for the city’s Jewish population. “We have to educate school leaders [on] how to identify and how to act. And most importantly, students need to be held accountable. Teachers need to be held accountable. You can’t just allow Jews to be isolated and targeted in these schools.”