Overview
- About 200 anti-Israel protesters gathered outside Park East Synagogue on Nov. 19 during a Nefesh B’Nefesh event, chanting slogans such as “Globalize the intifada” and “Resistance, take another settler out,” while one organizer urged making attendees “scared.”
- NYPD officers kept protesters and counter-protesters apart with metal barricades, and the department reported no arrests as the synagogue event proceeded inside.
- Gov. Kathy Hochul and outgoing Mayor Eric Adams condemned the rhetoric as an attack on the Jewish community, with Adams saying he would visit the synagogue when back in New York.
- Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s spokesperson said he discourages the protest language and argued sacred spaces should not promote activities that violate international law, later clarifying the comment referred to the promotion of settlement activity beyond the Green Line.
- Coverage noted Nefesh B’Nefesh assists North American Jews considering immigration to Israel, receives Israeli government support, and has showcased West Bank communities at times, though it does not assign immigrants to specific locales.