Janeese Lewis George made the comments as she courted an endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America
Janeese Lewis George, the Democratic Socialists of America activist who is poised to become the next mayor of Washington, D.C., told DSA leaders last year that she regretted voting in favor of a 2022 resolution condemning antisemitism.
During an interview with leaders of the Metro D.C. DSA chapter in November 2025, Lewis George said she no longer supported the resolution because, she argued, it conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. In April 2022, as a member of the D.C. city council, Lewis George had sponsored and voted in favor of the resolution, which adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, passed with a unanimous 13-0 vote, and was widely praised as a step to bolster the safety of D.C.’s Jewish community.
The interview, revealed for the first time by the Washington Free Beacon, was part of a series of internal interviews the DSA chapter conducted with candidates running for city government as it mulled whom to endorse ahead of the 2026 election. The DSA eventually endorsed Lewis George two months after the interview and canvassed aggressively for her during the primary. After she won the Democratic nomination on June 18, making her the deep-blue city’s presumptive next mayor, the DSA declared that “socialism wins in D.C.”
It represents the latest example of Lewis George appearing to adopt a hardline stance against Israel in an effort to court the DSA’s support. The socialist group’s chapters across the country have been linked to a number of antisemitic incidents nationwide and are openly hostile to Israel, advancing anti-Zionist and divestment campaigns. In March, Lewis George was forced to issue a statement saying she opposed antisemitism after Jewish Insider reported that she pledged in a DSA questionnaire never to attend events promoting Zionism or travel on political junkets to Israel.
Lewis George, though, has not addressed her comments walking back support for the 2022 antisemitism resolution.
“If this vote came up today, I would not vote for it,” Lewis George said during the November interview after Kurtis Hagans, the chairman of the Metro D.C. DSA, pressed her on her past support for the resolution. “I firmly believe that anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel is not antisemitism. I think that it’s so important for us in this moment to be clear on that and to stand firm in that. And that’s where my values are and that’s what I believe strongly.”
The 2022 resolution mentions Israel three times. First, it states that accusing Israel of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust is an “especially hurtful example of antisemitism.” Second, it states that drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis and holding Jews responsible for the actions of the State of Israel are both antisemitic actions. And, third, it states that accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel than to the interests of their own nation “echoes antisemitic tropes of dual loyalty.”
Furthermore, the resolution adopts the IHRA definition of antisemitism, something with which DSA leaders appeared particularly concerned during their interview with Lewis George. The IHRA defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” and lists examples such as inciting violence against Jews, denying or minimizing the Holocaust, and holding Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s actions.
The IHRA definition, though, explicitly states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
Lewis George’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
More than 30 countries, and dozens of municipalities in the United States, have adopted the definition. President Donald Trump adopted it in a 2019 executive order, and the Biden administration recognized it as “the most prominent definition of antisemitism.”
The Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, among other organizations, all supported the 2022 resolution.
“The resolution demonstrates a firm commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, which is particularly essential at a time when acts of antisemitism are on the rise at home and abroad,” the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said at the time.
In addition to her comments on the resolution, Lewis George told the Metro D.C. DSA leaders that, if elected mayor, she will “fight against unjust repression of pro-Palestinian activists” and support legislation divesting public funds from Israeli companies, including Cellebrite, an Israeli firm that provides software to the Metropolitan Police Department that aids criminal investigations.
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