Jerusalem, 27 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — President Isaac Herzog sharply criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday, declaring that denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination in their historic homeland is antisemitic.
Herzog was addressing the International Conference to Combat Antisemitism in Jerusalem. The event, held on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, drew international leaders, including Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, to discuss global challenges facing Jewish communities.
“Let us say this clearly and unequivocally: Denying the right of the Jewish people — and only the Jewish people — to self-determination in their national home is antisemitism,” Herzog insisted. “Even if you are the mayor of the city with the largest number of Jews outside of Israel.”
More than 1.1 million Jews live in New York City.
The president underscored what he described as an “axis of hatred” spanning the globe — including Iran, Hamas, blood libels spread by international institutions, and campus harassment throughout the West.
“The same ancient plague has returned to our societies,” Herzog said. “The justification may be different, but the poison is the same. It has taken many forms, but it has always borne one name: antisemitism.”
Herzog also referenced Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last hostage in Gaza whose remains were returned to Israel the previous day.
“Ran — who did not hesitate for a moment on October 7, and charged straight into the fire to protect his country, its citizens and human beings everywhere — has finally returned home,” Herzog said. “His return marks a significant turning point. For the first time since 2014, not a single Israeli citizen, living or dead, is being held in Gaza as a human bargaining chip.”
The president expressed gratitude to those involved in securing Gvili’s release, including the Israel Defense Forces, the Israeli government, and the United States. “My special thanks go to President Donald J. Trump and his advisors, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. May this moment mark the beginning of a path to healing and rebuilding,” he said.
Herzog also invoked the legacy of his father, Chaim Herzog, who served as an officer in the British army and entered Bergen-Belsen after its liberation. “My father shouted to his bruised and tortured brothers and sisters: ‘There are more Jews!’ My friends, there are more Jews. We are here. The people of Israel are alive. Not by the grace of others, but by virtue of our labor, our strength, our courage, our determination, our faith in God and our deep faith in life,” Herzog said.
January 27, the anniversary of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp’s liberation by Soviet soldiers in 1945, was designated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day by the United Nations. Six million Jews in Europe and North Africa were systematically killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II.
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