If Adams is out, Jumaane Williams would become acting NYC mayor. What will he mean for Jews?
Williams sharply criticized the war in Gaza and the crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests
Jumaane Williams, New York City public advocate, on Jan 9, 2023. Photo by Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh February 18, 2025
New Yorkers may not know Jumaane Williams, New York City’s public advocate, but with growing calls for Mayor Eric Adams’ resignation — and intensifying efforts to remove him from office — Williams would assume leadership of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
In Brooklyn, where he has built his political career for more than two decades, the progressive Democrat and a self-described Democratic Socialist — known for his signature backpack — has developed working relationships with Jewish leaders, particularly in the Orthodox community.
He frequently opens remarks to Jewish audiences with Hebrew greetings like “Shalom Aleichem, Ma Nishma.”
Adams, 64, who was elected in 2021 with support from Orthodox voting blocs, is facing growing calls for his resignation for allegedly striking a quid pro quo deal with the Justice Department to drop federal corruption charges against him in exchange for helping implement Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In the event Adams leaves office before his first term is over, Williams, 48, will become acting mayor for at least 90 days, ahead of a special nonpartisan election. If Adams resigns within three months of the June Democratic primaries, Williams will be in that interim role until the general election. He has previously said that if he assumes the role of acting mayor, he would compete for a four-year term.
What an acting mayor Jumaane Williams will mean for Israel and Jews
Jews make up 12% of the electorate in New York City, according to a recent Federation survey, and more than a third of those ages 18 to 29 identify as Orthodox, a group that often votes in blocs based on rabbinic endorsements.
Despite some tension with the Orthodox community, who have historically leaned toward officials with more centrist or conservative views on Israel, Williams has long engaged with them. As a city councilman from 2010 to 2019, he represented the Jewish-populated neighborhoods of Flatbush. He frequently attends Jewish celebrations and other events.
But his sharp criticism of Israel’s handling of the war with Hamas, and his rebuke of the city’s crackdown on the pro-Palestinian campus protests that followed the Oct. 7 attack, signal a stark departure from Adams’ pro-Israel stance.
Negotiations are set to begin on a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages, following a six-week pause in fighting and the release of at least 38 hostages. If talks fail, fighting in the Gaza Strip will resume, potentially reigniting pro-Palestinian protests across the city and on college campuses.
In a statement welcoming the ceasefire-hostage deal last month, Williams said it was “what people from across our city and the world have prayed and protested for, for so long.” He added that it comes with “a wariness that this cessation is temporary — a potential path to peace but not peace itself.”
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, starting with the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, Williams aligned himself with left-wing activists who called for a permanent ceasefire and for the U.S. to withhold military support for Israel. He described Israel’s action against Hamas as “violations of international law and war crimes in Gaza,” and accused the Adams administration of using pro-Palestinian campus protests “as an excuse to continue to not lift up the pain of Palestinians.”
On the first anniversary of Oct. 7, Williams recited a list of names and ages of Israeli and Palestinian victims at a rally hosted by non-Zionist Jewish groups.
Williams defended his criticism of Israel against accusations of antisemitism. “No country is above criticism, including mine,” he wrote on X last year. He also denounced displays of antisemitism in protests against the Brooklyn Museum and the Nova memorial exhibit in Lower Manhattan. “Targeting and attempting to intimidate Jewish New Yorkers is unacceptable,” Williams said.
An advocate for peace, Williams said in 2017, “I support the rights of both Israel and Palestine to exist. Period.”
In 2016, he abstained on a council resolution that condemned the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, explaining that he backed nonviolent protests and was opposed to the body voting on international issues “without a local nexus.”
He has never visited Israel because he has a fear of flying, he said. On his only ever flight to Puerto Rico last year, Williams said he took an anti-anxiety drug, Ativan.
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