Israeli officials are looking to ban Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, from entering the country over her history of antisemitic remarks.
Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism formally recommended that the country blacklist Duwaji in a request to Israel’s Interior Ministry, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Duwaji, a Syrian artist, has not expressed interest in visiting Israel, but has still come under fire for celebrating Hamas’ October 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel in which its operatives murdered Israeli civilians.
Ministry Director General Avi Cohen-Scali told the Interior Ministry that Duwaji’s use of terms like “genocide,” “occupation,” and “ethnic cleansing” in relation to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is justification for banning her from the Jewish nation.
NYC Mayor Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, has been outed for old tweets where she said she left Instagram because of “gay ass people,” called Facebook followers “fgts,” and used the N-word.
— AF Post (@AFpost) March 19, 2026
The old Twitter account which posted the tweets has since been deactivated.
Follow:… pic.twitter.com/okmUgXqVLs
The agency also pointed to an illustration Duwaji created showing a Palestinian woman buried under rubble with the text, “ethnic cleansing, plain and simple.” She also wrote posts on social media referring to reports about Hamas terrorists raping Israeli women as a “mass hoax.”
Mayor Mamdani defended his wife’s comments during a press conference, saying “she’s also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall.”
“I, however, was elected to represent all 8.5 million people in the city,” he continued. “And I believe that it’s my responsibility because of that role to answer questions about my thoughts and my politics, and my stances.”
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani says his wife, Rama Duwaji, is not a public figure after reports she liked a post claiming the Oct. 7 Hamas sexual violence investigation was a “mass rape” hoax.pic.twitter.com/pZVaX7YAgj
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) March 9, 2026
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said in a statement that Duwaji’s commentary “is an unprecedented moral low, and we will not allow people like Mrs. Mamdani to enter the territory of the State of Israel," according to Hyperallergic.
I found 70+ posts liked by Rama Duwaji, Zohran Mamdani's wife, of radical anti-Israel content—and even Holocaust inversion. pic.twitter.com/Q7NEKVXSnG
— Olivia Reingold (@Olivia_Reingold) March 7, 2026
Duwaji has also provided illustrations for a Palestinian American author who called Israelis and Jews “vampires,” “parasites,” and “cockroaches” on social media.
Mamdani and his wife have fallen under scrutiny over their anti-Israel stance. Since the October 7 attacks, antisemitic incidents have risen exponentially in New York City and across the country. The ADL New York/New Jersey reported an 18 percent rise in anti-Jewish incidents in 2024.