Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has filled a number of key positions in his administration with individuals known for strong anti-Israel views, including one staffer who praised those tearing down posters of Israeli hostages and another who led a campus push to divest from Israel, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
After taking office, Mamdani appointed Alvaro Lopez—formerly the electoral coordinator for the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America—as his Brooklyn borough director, according to a source familiar with City Hall staffing who spoke with the Free Beacon. Lopez had also served on Mamdani’s inaugural committee, during which a deleted post on X surfaced in which he described people removing hostage posters as “heroes.” Lopez outlined his vision for what he termed “a socialist strategy for Palestinian solidarity” in an October 2024 memo, arguing that growing anger over what he called “ongoing genocide” should be channeled into a broad political movement. He asserted that U.S. aid to Israel contributes to worsening living conditions in America and urged cooperation between socialist elected officials to advance a divestment agenda and an “anti-Zionist future.”
Another key figure in Mamdani’s team is Drashti Brahmbhatt, who serves as an adviser for “100 Day Planning and Implementation.” A longtime member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Brahmbhatt has been publicly critical of Israel dating back to her college years at Brown University, where she led efforts pushing the university to cut investment ties with companies doing business in Israel. In a now-deleted 2021 X post, she called Palestine “one of the greatest moral issues of our time” and accused Israel of operating as an “apartheid state.”
She also praised Mamdani for his advocacy of Palestinian causes while serving in the state assembly. Brahmbhatt has often criticized politicians she perceives as insufficiently opposed to Israel, including then-Congressman Jamaal Bowman, arguing that his decision to distance himself from the Abraham Accords was merely the “bare minimum.” She urged him to reject U.S. military aid to Israel and campaign contributions from any group supporting the country. In other now-deleted posts, she equated opposition to police abolition with tolerance for “murder” and made disparaging remarks about white women over an encounter on public transit.
The appointment of aides with such extreme views has fueled fresh scrutiny of Mamdani’s administration. Earlier this month, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene hosted the inaugural meeting of a newly formed “Global Oppression Working Group,” which reportedly accused Israel of genocide and promoted boycotts of companies doing business with the country—without any acknowledgment of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror assault. Around the same time, Mamdani replaced Rabbi Moshe Davis, the director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, with an activist who has previously denounced Israel. Davis told the Free Beacon that he believes his dismissal was due to being “a proud Jew who supports Israel.”
Also joining Mamdani’s ranks is Manvir Singh, now a senior policy analyst. Singh deleted his X account after old posts surfaced showing support for defunding the police and accusing Israel of “terrorism” in its operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. He had also reposted comments labeling Israel a “genocidal apartheid state” and expressed support for Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a Mamdani ally and unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case.
Anti-Israel sentiment within the administration extends beyond senior staff. Achmat Akkad, identified by an insider as a “Community Engagement Training Specialist” at the Health Department, was arrested in May 2024 for participating in a pro-Hamas demonstration. In several 2025 posts, Akkad compared Israel to “modern-day Nazi Germany” and called Zionism “fascism.” On October 8, 2023, one day after Hamas’s attack, he publicly declared he had “no sympathy” for the murdered Israeli civilians.