NYC Health Department Staffer’s Deleted Social Media Posts Call for Elimination of Israelis

A longtime New York City Health Department employee is under fire following the surfacing of past social media posts in which he called for the elimination of Israelis and made incendiary claims about Israel and Zionists.

According to the Jewish watchdog group Canary Mission, community coordinator Achmat Akkad wrote on X approximately a year ago that “1 Israeli left in this world would be one too many.”

Akkad has worked at the department since 2017. In another post from November 10, 2021 — later deleted — he wrote, “Jews that don’t support apartheid are safe. Zionists aren’t!” according to screenshots captured by the group and shared online.

The revelations come as Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Health Department has already faced intense scrutiny after staffers allegedly used taxpayer-funded resources to organize a “global oppression” working group session that accused Israel of genocide. The controversy has sparked calls for both city and federal investigations.

Akkad, who was hired before Mamdani took office, reportedly made additional inflammatory statements in posts archived and later deleted from his X account. In one such post, he wrote: “Israel exists by sacrificing the blood of Black and brown people as an offering to white supremacy.” In a separate post from about a year ago, he claimed: “Zionists are behind the attacks, far right parties being elected across the world, attacks on free speech, the wars in MENE, the dehumanization of Muslims, and increase in police power…”

When contacted by reporters, Akkad confirmed he works for the Health Department and operates the X account but declined further comment. He previously described himself online as the “US Ambassador to Harlem.” Akkad’s X account has since been suspended, making independent verification of the posts impossible.

Mamdani was not involved in Akkad’s original hiring, as the health department staffer predates the new mayor in City Hall. Akkad first joined city government in 2015 as a community associate with the Human Resources Administration/Department of Social Services under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. He reportedly earns about $65,000 annually in his Health Department role.

“If this is who gets elevated into city government, what does that say about the leadership elevating him? New Yorkers should be outraged,” Canary Mission stated.