Rise of right and left-wing antisemitism in the US ‘extremely disturbing’ – Israeli president

Iran and its proxies working to regroup, acquired nuclear weapons and advanced terror activities, warns Israel’s president.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s president said this week he is “extremely disturbed” by the rise of antisemitism in the United States on both the right and left, castigating New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and calling for zero tolerance for anti-Jewish harassment.

On Monday, President Isaac Herzog addressed the Biennial National Assembly of the American Zionist Movement, warning against complacency regarding Iran and rising antisemitism in the US.

During his speech at the New York event, Herzog reiterated his sharp criticism of Mamdani over the incoming mayor’s initial response to a protest event outside a Manhattan synagogue organized last month by a radical anti-Israel group.

Noting that New York is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, Herzog lamented that there is now “a mayor-elect who shows utter contempt to the nation-state of the Jewish people.”

After the controversial protest, which included antisemitic epithets and harassment of Jews entering the synagogue, Mamdani’s office issued a statement condemning synagogue officials for permitting an event encouraging Jews to immigrate to Israel.

“Jews have prayed three times a day for hundreds of years and thousands of years to Jerusalem, and we yearn to go back to Jerusalem—this is a basic rule of Judaism,” Herzog said Monday, lambasting Mamdani’s initial response to the protest.

“The fact that a mayor-elect, an elected official, speaks in contempt about this whole notion, which is part and parcel of all of us here and the great Zionist movement, worries me a lot.”

Herzog also said he was “extremely disturbed” by the rise of antisemitism in the United States, noting its spread on both the populist right and woke left.

“Antisemitism has never been so apparent in the public discourse,” he said. “It comes with hate from both the left and right. No Jew should be harassed anywhere in the world because of his or her faith.”

“We have to fight together, with all the legal tools we have, to combat antisemitism and explain our case that the only nation-state of the Jewish people is protecting the free world and is a beacon of tikkun olam to the entire world.”

Turning to Iran, Herzog said that while the regime had been dealt a serious blow to its nuclear program and its terrorist proxies across the Middle East, the Islamic republic is working to “regroup.”

“Iran is trying to regroup and continue the battle against Israel big time with all of their capabilities. They want to get to the bomb. They want to advance their terror agencies. We follow this closely. We see what they’re trying to do in Lebanon. We see what they’re trying to do elsewhere. We should not be naive for a moment.”