By: Fern Sidman

A formidable new alliance has emerged in New York’s commercial landscape, signaling a decisive response from the city’s business establishment to what it views as an increasingly hostile political climate for Jewish and Israeli enterprises. As reported on Monday by The New York Post, leading business groups have joined forces to launch the New York–Israeli Chamber of Commerce Coalition, a coordinated effort designed to shield Israeli-founded and Jewish-owned companies from economic discrimination and the ripple effects of rising antisemitism under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration.

The coalition brings together heavyweights of New York’s economic infrastructure, including the influential New York State Chamber of Commerce and the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, with additional organizations expected to join in the coming weeks. While the group’s stated mission is rooted in economic fairness and the protection of free enterprise, its timing—and its tone—reflect deeper anxieties about the direction of city and state policy. As The New York Post has reported, business leaders see the convergence of anti-Israel politics and a spike in antisemitic incidents as a direct threat to New York’s economic vitality.

“The free enterprise system that made New York City strong and encouraged many Israeli founders to select New York City for U.S. operations is at risk,” said Al Kinel, president of the New York–Israeli Chamber of Commerce Coalition, in remarks cited in The New York Post report. Kinel warned that the danger is not merely financial. “Beyond the economic damage, we are deeply alarmed by the correlation between these policies and the rise in unsafe conditions for our employees and customers,” he added, emphasizing the coalition’s concern that political rhetoric is translating into real-world consequences.

Though Kinel stopped short of naming Mayor Mamdani directly, sources close to the coalition told The New York Post that the mayor’s rapid policy reversals following his historic election last November served as a catalyst for action. Mamdani, a vocal critic of Israel who has repeatedly accused the Jewish state of genocide in Gaza, moved swiftly upon taking office to dismantle city policies that had explicitly protected Israeli businesses and addressed antisemitism. On his first day in City Hall, he rescinded two executive orders issued by former Mayor Eric Adams: one barring city officials from boycotting or divesting from Israel, and another recognizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s broader definition of antisemitism.

To the coalition’s founders, these moves were not symbolic gestures but warning signs. As The New York Post has chronicled, New York has experienced a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war, fueled in part by aggressive anti-Israel protests on college campuses and in city streets. Jewish and Israeli businesses have increasingly found themselves in the crosshairs of this unrest, facing boycotts, vandalism, and pressure campaigns that blur the line between political expression and economic coercion.

One particularly stark example, highlighted by The New York Post, involved employees at the Breads Bakery chain—an Israeli-founded business—who demanded that the company sever ties with Israel as part of a broader unionization effort. Elsewhere, Jewish and Israeli eateries have been defaced, their storefronts vandalized in acts that business leaders say are motivated less by labor or consumer concerns than by ideological hostility.

Against this backdrop, the New York–Israeli Chamber of Commerce Coalition has articulated a clear set of objectives. Chief among them is the reinstatement of policies that explicitly protect Israelis and Jews from antisemitic business practices, whether those practices take the form of boycotts, divestment campaigns, or informal pressure exerted through public shaming. The coalition argues that economic discrimination, no matter how it is framed, undermines the foundational principles of a city built on openness and opportunity.

The economic stakes are substantial. According to a report released last year by the United States–Israel Business Alliance and cited in The New York Post report, New York City is home to approximately 676 Israeli-founded business establishments, including at least 20 valued at more than $1 billion. Collectively, these firms employ tens of thousands of New Yorkers and generate significant tax revenue that supports public services across the five boroughs. In sectors ranging from technology and finance to food and retail, Israeli-founded companies have become integral to the city’s economic fabric.

Guy Franklin, founder and CEO of Israeli Mapped in NY, an organization that has joined the coalition, emphasized the scale of that contribution. “New York is home to the largest Israeli tech ecosystem outside Israel,” Franklin told The New York Post. “These companies aren’t on the sidelines; they are an integral part of New York’s tech ecosystem, from investors and founders to employees. They pay taxes, lease office space, and contribute to local communities across the city.”

Support for the coalition has also come from statewide business leaders who view the issue as transcending any single administration. Heather Mulligan, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State, said New York’s economic success has always depended on its willingness to welcome entrepreneurs from around the world. “Like all employers, Israeli-founded businesses are an equally important part of our economy,” Mulligan said in comments reported by The New York Post. “They create jobs, lead innovation, and contribute to the economy of the communities where they operate.”

Mark Jaffe, president and CEO of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and a board member of the new coalition, framed the issue in stark economic terms. New York, he warned, “should not be jeopardizing jobs nor future job creation based upon economic discrimination.” Israel, Jaffe noted, is “a strong friend and ally of the United States” with a dynamic, capitalistic economy that already provides billions of dollars and thousands of jobs in New York. “We are proud to be part of the Coalition that is standing up and encouraging support for Israeli-backed businesses,” he said.

Galit Meyran, CEO of the Israel–America Chamber of Commerce and another coalition board member, struck a more urgent note. “When political agendas lead to an economic environment where antisemitic threats and actions become the norm, immediate collective action is required,” she told The New York Post. Her comments reflect a growing sentiment among business leaders that neutrality is no longer tenable when companies and employees feel targeted because of national origin or religious identity.

While the coalition presents itself as nonpartisan, its emergence has unmistakable political implications. By organizing at this moment, business leaders are signaling that economic policy cannot be divorced from civic responsibility. The message to Albany and City Hall is clear: New York’s prosperity depends on a climate in which all businesses can operate without fear of ideological retribution.

As The New York Post report observed, New York has weathered many political storms, but its economic resilience has always rested on a simple premise—that talent and enterprise, wherever they originate, are assets to be cultivated, not liabilities to be punished. The New York–Israeli Chamber of Commerce Coalition is betting that this principle still resonates, even amid the polarized politics of the present moment.

Whether the coalition succeeds in reversing policy decisions or merely slows their momentum remains to be seen. What is already evident, however, is that the city’s business community is no longer content to watch from the sidelines. In drawing a line around economic discrimination and antisemitism, these organizations are asserting that New York’s identity as a global marketplace is inseparable from its commitment to fairness. As the coalition gains traction, its leaders hope that message will reverberate far beyond boardrooms—reaching the halls of power where the future of the city’s economy is being shaped.