Tel Aviv, Dec. 8 -- Israeli President Isaac Herzog sharply criticized New York City's mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, for comments he described as "outrageous" and harmful to Jewish communities during a speech at Yeshiva University in New York City. Herzog said the mayor-elect's remarks questioning Jews' right to move to Israel and participate in traditional Zionist practices not only delegitimize the Jewish people's ancient homeland but also "legitimize violence and undermine freedom of religion." He labeled such rhetoric both anti-Jewish and anti-American.

Herzog, who was presented with an honorary doctorate, described a climate in which Holocaust inversion, conspiracy theories, and new forms of Jew-hatred proliferate online and in public...