(RNS) — New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Phylisa Wisdom, the executive director of New York Jewish Agenda who has spent years organizing with progressive Jewish organizations in the city, to run his Office to Combat Antisemitism.  Since his early campaign days, Mamdani has weathered a challenging relationship with part of the city’s Jewish community, largely due to his criticism of Israel and defense of Palestinian rights. Wisdom’s appointment on Wednesday (Feb. 4) comes as the mayor faces renewed criticism over his recent revocation of the former administration’s plans to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s antisemitism definition, which considers many criticisms of Israel as antisemitism.  New York Jewish Agenda, which Wisdom, 39, has led for nearly three years, supports the existence of Israel as a Jewish democratic state and affirms Israelis’ and Palestinians’ rights to self-determination. It condemns Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and rejects the boycott, divest, sanctions movement against Israel. Wisdom — whose organization has criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza —  appears to be aligned with the mayor in …