{"id":454695,"date":"2026-02-07T15:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454695\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T15:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:35:24","slug":"anti-israel-working-group-in-nyc-health-agency-sparks-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454695\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Israel \u2018working group\u2019 in NYC health agency sparks backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p>News that employees in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had launched an anti-Israel \u201cworking group\u201d inside the agency\u2019s headquarters provoked outrage among both progressive and conservative leaders in the New York City Council.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Post <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/04\/us-news\/mamdani-nyc-health-dept-staffers-launch-working-group-accusing-israel-of-genocide\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">first reported<\/a> on Wednesday that employees of the mayorally controlled agency \u2014 which oversees restaurant inspections, disease control, vital statistics and addiction services \u2014 held the inaugural meeting of its \u201cGlobal Oppression and Public Health Working Group\u201d inside its main office in Queens during the workday on Tuesday. A presenter acknowledged that the working group \u201creally developed in response to the ongoing genocide in Palestine,\u201d according to materials the Post obtained.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the first Jewish person to lead the body, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/05\/us-news\/zohran-mamdani-health-dept-global-oppression-working-group-should-be-probed-over-use-of-taxpayer-funds-nyc-council-speaker\/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost_metro&amp;utm_source=twitter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told<\/a> the Post that an investigation into the matter was \u201cnecessary to protect the public trust and address the unacceptable rise in antisemitism across New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>City Councilmember Lynn Schulman, a Democrat who co-chairs the body\u2019s health committee and serves as vice chair of its Jewish Caucus, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Lynn4NYC\/status\/2019156772339216786\" rel=\"nofollow\">described<\/a> herself as \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d at the news. However, she said that the agency had assured her it was probing the situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The department did not respond immediately to a request for comment from Jewish Insider.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDOHMH should be singularly focused on protecting and improving the health of New Yorkers \u2014 not advancing political narratives unrelated to its mission,\u201d Schulman, a longtime progressive activist, wrote in a statement. \u201cPoliticizing a public health agency undermines trust, morale, and the core mission of the department.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis incident is especially troubling given the alarming rise of antisemitism we are seeing in New York City \u2014 including multiple antisemitic [acts] reported in recent weeks. Hosting a meeting that promotes inflammatory accusations while ignoring antisemitism entirely only deepens and alienates Jewish employees and residents,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The report also drew condemnation from City Councilmember Joann Ariola, a Republican who represents parts of Queens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat this is, to be clear, is thinly veiled activism that is attempting to normalize itself within a city agency,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cJewish New Yorkers already feel under attack just walking the streets of this city. They should not have to be in fear about the radical ideology of their healthcare providers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News that employees in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had launched an anti-Israel&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-454695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}