Mamdani’s Judicial Advisory Panel Has One Glaring Omission: Jewish Members

Mamdani’s Judicial Advisory Panel Has One Glaring Omission: Jewish Members

During his inaugural address, New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani promised to be a mayor to all New Yorkers. Not many people believed him, but the words sounded nice.

That’s why few were surprised last week when Mamdani announced the 18 members of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary. In a city where Jewish lawyers are represented in the legal profession at rates far exceeding their share of the population, not a single member of the committee was Jewish.

One X user likened the omission to “having no black people on an NBA team.”

He was right. It’s hard to believe the boy mayor’s exclusion of Jewish attorneys was anything but intentional.

Picking 18 NYC attorneys and not one Jew is is like having no black people on an NBA team. pic.twitter.com/os4yGbEF32

— Lee Kuan Yimby (@LeeKuanYimby) July 28, 2026

Another X user put it even more bluntly:

Don’t be surprised that Mamdani—a man for whom a Judenrein Middle East is his political lodestar—also wants a Judenrein NYC. About 45% of NYC lawyers are Jewish. The odds of selecting 18 NYC lawyers at random and ending up with a panel containing no Jews are 0.55 to the 18th power—or roughly one chance in 47,149.

And it’s not about “Zionism.” There are plenty of anti-Zionist Jewish lawyers he could have picked, including thousands who, to their shame, voted for him. It’s about Jews. He hates Jews. It’s not complex.

Don’t be surprised that Mamdani—a man for whom a Judenrein Middle East is his political lodestar—also wants a Judenrein NYC. About 45% of NYC lawyers are Jewish. The odds of selecting 18 NYC lawyers at random and ending up with a panel containing no Jews are 0.55 to the 18th… pic.twitter.com/dvcfKdBs01

— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) July 28, 2026

Professional groups quickly condemned the decision.

On Monday, Elizabeth Forspan, the president of the Brandeis Association of Queens, a group of Jewish legal professionals, addressed the glaring omission in a letter to Mamdani, co-signed by leaders of the Jewish Lawyers Guild of Manhattan, the Brooklyn Brandeis Society, and the Bronx County Jewish Bar Association.

Citing the announcement of the committee from the mayor’s office, they wrote:

Not a single Jewish attorney, former judge, or legal professional was appointed to a committee your administration described as one that would be “truly reflective of New York City.”

…

Excluding Jewish representation from this committee is neither reflective nor inclusive. It follows a troubling pattern that has left many Jewish New Yorkers feeling increasingly marginalized, especially following your rejection of the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of antisemitism and the omission of Jewish neighborhoods from a map highlighting immigrant enclaves.

…

At a time when antisemitism is reaching historic levels in our city, leadership matters. Last week’s attack on a visibly Jewish man on the Upper West Side is yet another painful reminder that antisemitic violence is real and growing.

A coalition of New York City’s Jewish bar associations is accusing Mamdani of excluding Jews from his new Advisory Committee on the Judiciary.

In a letter, the attorneys say the omission follows a “troubling pattern” that has left many Jewish New Yorkers feeling marginalized.… pic.twitter.com/NVPw7lH7MR

— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) July 28, 2026

Asked about the letter, Mamdani’s spokesman Joe Calvello responded by noting, “To date, Mayor Mamdani has had the privilege of appointing a dozen qualified judges from a range of backgrounds, including Jewish judges.” He further claimed the idea that “decision making about the committee was motivated by religion is false.”

But Mamdani’s antipathy toward Jews was a major concern during his campaign and has become increasingly evident since his inauguration.

Calvello’s remarks rang hollow given that Mamdani — who inexplicably seems to feel his office qualifies him to opine on U.S. foreign policy — spent several weeks earlier this month insisting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested if he sets foot in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly in September.

The International Criminal Court, which the U.S. does not recognize, issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

After concluding he could not arrest Netanyahu, Mamdani released a video in which he called him a war criminal and condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. pic.twitter.com/YRezmW6YVx

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2026

Two days later, a man stabbed an Asian man and a Jewish man in New York City as he reportedly shouted “Allahu akbar.”

The New York Times reported that the following day, a group of Jewish leaders “gathered … to denounce rising antisemitism and to beseech the mayor to tone down his anti-Israel rhetoric, which they believed was feeding antisemitic sentiment in New York City.”

Mamdani and his minions can insist all they’d like that religion played no role in his appointments, but the complete absence of Jewish attorneys from an 18-member committee in a city with one of the nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish legal communities is difficult to dismiss as a coincidence.

Given his history of antisemitic remarks, his repeated attacks on Israel, and his willingness to inject himself into international affairs while Jewish New Yorkers warn that his rhetoric is fueling antisemitism, the message many in the community have received is unmistakable.

Suffice it to say, he is not a mayor to all New Yorkers. Only to the ones he likes.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.