The efforts by Israeli leaders and Zionist organizations to weaponize antisemitism, particularly in NYC and across the USA, have become a convenient tool to turn what should be a conversation about Israel’s actions into a monologue about so-called Jew-hatred.
Israeli leaders cannot afford for Jews in NYC to be recognized as a community entirely separate from the Israeli government. Such a distinction would undermine their attempts to invoke Jewish identity and Jewish safety to defend Israel’s political interests. Instead, they seek to portray American Jews as extensions of a foreign country, falsely suggesting that criticism of Israel is an attack on Jews themselves. By blurring the line between Jews and Israel, they turn legitimate scrutiny of their government’s actions into accusations of antisemitism, shifting the conversation away from accountability and toward claims of Jew-hatred.
This deliberate conflation stirs resentment toward Jewish communities by creating the false impression that Jews are collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. By portraying American Jews as extensions of Israel and entangling us in its foreign wars and political battles, Zionist leaders risk directing anger over Israel’s actions toward Jews who have no involvement in them. Rather than protecting Jewish communities, this conflation fuels hostility, deepens divisions and endangers the very Jews whose safety Israeli leaders claim to defend.
The culmination of the months-long diatribe against our mayor has now reached its peak at the UN General Assembly. This is precisely why we are taking our message to Times Square.
We, the Jews of NYC, say to Netanyahu: We see through the tricks of the Zionist trade. We will not allow you to foment hatred in our city by pitting one New Yorker against another, only to turn around and claim that Mamdani is the one doing it.
Netanyahu, you do not represent us. New York City is our home, and we refuse to be used as pawns in your political battles.