Two young Jewish men, both members of Chabad (a global orthodox Jewish movement), were attacked on a New York City subway car by two black men. Although it appears the assault occurred on Monday night, the timing is not specified.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon shared a video that captured part of the violent encounter in a post on X.
Danon described the attack as “a deeply disturbing hate crime targeting young Chabad men on a train in New York, whose only act was sharing the light of Hanukkah,” adding that “such acts of hatred must be unequivocally condemned, and those responsible must be held accountable.”
The footage shows one of the assailants hurling antisemitic insults at a Jewish man as he grabs him by the neck. He shouts, “F*** you doing? “F****** touch me.”
A male passenger yells, “Chill. Chill bro,” and a female voice can be heard screaming, “Stop it, stop it.”
The Yeshiva World provided the most detailed account of the attack. The victims were returning from Chanukah kiruv activities in Manhattan to Crown Heights, as per the Israeli media outlet.
According to a victim’s firsthand account, a group of Jewish students was returning to Brooklyn on the subway after several hours of Hanukkah outreach when the ride turned violent. After the train left Manhattan, two men — “believed to be a father and son” — allegedly directed antisemitic slurs at the “visibly Jewish” passengers.
When one of the victims began recording the incident, one of the assailants attacked him. “The verbal abuse escalated rapidly,” the report said.
As the situation spiraled out of control, no passengers intervened. No one stood up. No one attempted to stop the assault.“One stop before Crown Heights, we ran off the train in panic,” the bochur said. “Nobody helped us. Nobody got up to block them. We were completely alone.”As the bochurim fled the car, the attacker made a gun gesture toward his head.“I realized this could turn deadly,” the bochur said. “I quickly put the phone in my pocket — but the camera was still recording. You can hear everything. You can see the fear.”
Responding to the assault (and I assume to news of the brutal massacre at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday that left at least 15 participants dead and dozens more wounded), widely followed Israeli journalist Hen Mazzig asked in a post on X, “Is the world waiting for a Chanukah massacre in NYC before it understands how catastrophic the situation has become?”
Mazzig, of course, is right. How many more attacks on Jewish people will it take before Washington realizes that substantive action is essential?
Every other minority group in America is protected from abuse. Imagine publicly denigrating a member of the trans community. Even denouncing members of Minnesota’s Somali community after reports that a predominantly Somali group had defrauded the state’s taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars — if not billions — has been frowned upon.
It is long past time for the United States to adopt a genuine zero-tolerance policy toward antisemitism. Not another symbolic resolution from the House of Representatives, not another denunciation devoid of enforcement, but action with substance.
Congress must pass legislation that treats the targeting of Jewish Americans for harassment, intimidation, or violence as a serious crime — one carrying clear penalties and real consequences. Without meaningful accountability, condemnations ring hollow, and the message sent to perpetrators is one of permissiveness. Protecting Jewish citizens is a fundamental obligation of a society that claims to uphold equal protection under the law.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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