Alina Bonsell Criticizes Mamdani’s Antisemitism Plan: “Where is the Accountability?”

Sep 30, 2026 by Susan Rosenbluth

NEW YORK, NY (September 30, 2026) – Alina Bonsell, the Republican nominee for New York State Senate District 28 and candidate on the independent Block Mamdani line, today criticized Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly released strategy to combat antisemitism, saying the plan fails to adequately address criminal enforcement, synagogue security, and the connection between antisemitism and anti-Zionist rhetoric.

“This is not a serious enough plan to combat antisemitism. You cannot credibly talk about combating antisemitism without talking about what happens when people actually commit antisemitic crimes.

We just saw the problem two weeks ago. Yehia Amin stalked a group of visibly Jewish men through Times Square, made antisemitic threats, and punched a 23-year-old Israeli tourist in the head. He pleaded guilty to assault as a hate crime and was sentenced on September 15 to 90 days in jail followed by five years of probation.

Where is the accountability? If someone commits an antisemitic hate crime, there need to be meaningful consequences. Prevention and education are important, but they cannot substitute for enforcement of the law.

The city is allocating $6.4 million to community organizations for hate-crime prevention and survivor support. Those programs have value, but the strategy does not establish a comparable new criminal-enforcement component. The question is simple: What is the city doing differently to ensure that people who commit antisemitic crimes are held accountable?

The plan also includes $2 million for the Queens Holocaust Memorial and $2.5 million for the Center for New Jewish Culture. I support educating New Yorkers about Jewish history, the Holocaust, and antisemitism, and that education should also be strengthened throughout our public-school system. But cultural investment and education cannot be a substitute for protecting Jewish New Yorkers from violence and hate crimes.

And only $1 million is being allocated to strengthen the physical security of synagogues and other houses of worship. In a city with hundreds of Jewish institutions across five boroughs, this raises serious questions about whether the investment is proportional to the security needs Jewish communities are facing.

There is another important omission. A serious strategy should acknowledge that while criticism of the Israeli government is not inherently antisemitic, anti-Zionist rhetoric can, in some circumstances, cross into antisemitism or contribute to an environment in which Jews are targeted because of their connection to Israel. A strategy that refuses to address that intersection leaves out an important part of the reality Jewish New Yorkers are experiencing.

Jewish New Yorkers need more than prevention programs and cultural initiatives. They need a city government that makes clear that antisemitic violence will be investigated, prosecuted, and met with meaningful consequences.”

Bonsell