Day 817 - Mamdani to become NYC mayor as apple drops in Times Square
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 31 December 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
NY correspondent Luke Tress joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is set to become the city's leader at midnight as the apple falls in Times Square. According to a report from the Anti-Defamation League, at least 20 percent of Mamdani’s 400 administrative appointees are connected to anti-Zionist US activist groups, such as Students for Justice in Palestine. Tress zooms into the case of Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who was initially named as his administration’s director of appointments.
Tress delves into which of Mamdani’s policies are particularly worrisome for NY Jews, including security, schools and the annual Israel parade.
In the second half, we focus on the new Movement Against Antizionism (MAAZ) and how it sees itself as a new way of framing hatred against Jews. Scholar Adam Louis-Klein and MAAZ are part of a network of academics and activists pushing the Jewish community to focus on anti-Zionism as a distinct hatred, with its own ideology and tactics, moving on from the antisemitism paradigm as a framework for understanding discrimination against Jews. We debate whether this is needed even as it grows in traction in the US.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
What are Mamdani’s policy proposals that could directly impact Jewish New Yorkers?
At least 20% of Mamdani appointees have ties to anti-Zionist groups, ADL says
High-level Mamdani appointee resigns after old antisemitic comments surface
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IMAGE: New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on December 17, 2025 in New York. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. |
| 0:06.0 | Today is Wednesday, December 31st, Day 817 of the war. |
| 0:12.5 | I'm Amanda Borchelle Dan here with our New York correspondent, Luke Tress. |
| 0:17.1 | Luke, thank you so much for joining me. |
| 0:19.3 | Yep, thanks for having me. |
| 0:20.5 | And happy New Year, Luke, you live in, thanks for having me. And happy New Year. |
| 0:21.6 | Luke, you live in a country that celebrates this holiday. |
| 0:24.3 | Happy New Year. |
| 0:25.3 | Yeah, thank you. |
| 0:26.5 | And along with the New Year, New York is also getting a new mayor. |
| 0:31.0 | And New York Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani is set to be inaugurated at midnight, along with the apple falling in Times Square. |
| 0:40.5 | And Lucas here is to tell us all about his proposed policies and how they could affect Jewish New Yorkers. |
| 0:48.8 | We're also going to probe into the growing anti-Zionist movement and understand just what it's about. So all of this and more |
| 0:57.5 | when we're back. And we're back. I'm Amanda Borsal Dan here with our New York correspondent, |
| 1:10.7 | Luke Tress. |
| 1:11.6 | So the ADL recently put out a report that at least 20% of New York mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani's appointees, his 400 administrative appointees, are connected to anti-Zionist U.S. activist groups such as students for justice in |
| 1:30.7 | Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace and others. So, Luke, there's been a bit of backlash |
| 1:37.5 | recently with some of the appointees, including the woman who is the administration's, or was at least the administration's director of appointments. |
| 1:47.7 | So talk to us a little bit about this mix of anti-Zionist voices in Mamdani's staff. |
| 1:54.1 | So Mamdani announced his transition committees of 400 people in different subcommittees. |
| 1:59.9 | And the ADL checked all of them. The ADL has been |
| 2:03.5 | tracking Mamdani pretty aggressively. They started this program called the Mamdani Monitor, where they're |
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