Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Thursday blamed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for “creating the climate in which Jews are targeted” following the stabbing of two people, including one Jewish man, by an assailant who reportedly shouted “Allahu akbar.”
“Appalled but sadly not surprised,” Sa’ar wrote on X. “This violence did not happen in a vacuum. Months of incitement against the Jewish state from Mamdani have helped create a climate in which Jews are targeted. Words have consequences. Mamdani must end the incitement, confront antisemitism with resolve, and act now to protect the city’s Jewish community.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., wrote on X: “Zohran Mamdani, your incitement is putting Jewish lives in danger in New York, home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel. You have spent months fueling hatred, demonizing Israel and legitimizing hostility toward Jews. Now take responsibility for the consequences. Every time you pour more fuel on this fire, you make violence more likely. Stop the incitement. Before more people get hurt.”
Mamdani, who is Muslim, condemned the attacks, saying in a statement: “These hateful and despicable attacks have no place in our city.” He has called Israel an apartheid state that’s committing a genocide – allegations disputed by the U.S., Israel and its allies. During last year’s mayoral campaign, Mamdani repeated and defended the slogan that calls to “globalize the intifada,” before saying he would discourage it following a backlash.
Police arrested a suspect in the stabbing attacks in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Raul Morales, 51, is suspected of stabbing an Asian man and a Jewish man and yelling the Arabic phrase “Allahu akbar” during both attacks, witnesses told the New York Police Department, the Associated Press reported.
The department was working to determine a motive, AP quoted Commissioner Jessica Tisch as saying. There wasn’t immediately any known link between Morales and the victims, and the initial investigation suggested that mental health may have been a factor in the attacks, Tisch told AP.
The stabbings happened about two blocks apart in broad daylight. Both victims were taken to a hospital and were expected to survive.
