Deputy Consul General of Israel in New York, Tsach Saar, is sending a warning to America after the deadly shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in D.C.: Radicalism isn’t just a problem for Israelis and Jews — it’s a problem for all Americans.
“It’s not an Israeli problem and not a Jewish problem, it’s an American problem. These people who incite, who call for violence, who use antisemitic rhetoric, at the end of the day, they are shaking the pillars of American democracy,” Saar told Fox News Digital.
The diplomat also spoke about the phrase “globalize the Intifada,” a slogan that has become more common at anti-Israel demonstrations. Saar says the phrase refers to those seeking to export violence beyond the Middle East to places like America, making the D.C. shooting much more than a local tragedy.
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“Intifada is a direct call for violence against Jews. So, we have violence on American soil, we have division in American society. It weakens the American democracy and that puts it very, very high on the agenda for Americans themselves. And I have to tell you, people that I speak with, they know exactly what I’m talking about and they understand how severe the problem is. And now it’s time for action,” he said.
Elias Rodriguez, the suspect in the fatal shooting of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the Capital Jewish Museum, was heard chanting “free, free Palestine” during his arrest. This prompted renewed discussions about the rhetoric used in anti-Israel demonstrations in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre and resulting war in Gaza.
College campuses, which became hotspots for anti-Israel agitators after Oct. 7, have heard this kind of rhetoric, with one of the epicenters being Columbia University in New York.
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Saar told Fox News Digital that it’s clear that not just Jewish and Israeli students, but also those who express pro-Israel views feel “unsafe” on campuses across the country. While Saar acknowledged that America’s First Amendment “is sacred,” he warned that there is a difference between expressing one’s viewpoint and inciting violence.
Even as Jews and Israelis feel unsafe, Saar does not think the answer is to hide who they are, but rather to unite and “resist by all legal means” those who use lies and hateful rhetoric to incite violence.
“The answer is not hiding our stars [of David], we should be proud of who we are,” Saar said. He added that he had seen individuals on social media expressing support for the murders of Milgrim and Lischinsky.
Antisemitism has been on the rise in the U.S. since Hamas carried out its attacks against Israel in October 2023.
In April, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its annual audit on antisemitism in which it identified 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. during 2024, marking a 5% increase from 2023. This was the fourth year in a row that the organization noted a record-breaking number of antisemitic incidents across the country.
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