Biden: Recent acts of antisemitism in New York ‘abhorrent’

President Biden on Friday condemned a recent spate of antisemitic acts in New York, including vandalism and a demonstration outside an exhibit honoring the victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

“The horrific acts of Antisemitism this week – including a demonstration celebrating the 10/7 attack, vandalism targeting Jewish homes, attacks on Jewish faculty at college campuses, and harassment of subway riders – are abhorrent,” Biden posted on the social platform X. “Antisemitism doesn’t just threaten Jewish Americans. It threatens all Americans, and our fundamental democratic values.”

Instances of antisemitism have risen sharply following the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel, but there were a handful of high profile incidents in recent days in the New York City area.

Authorities investigated reports of vandalism at the homes of the Brooklyn Museum’s director, who is Jewish, and some board members after images of the graffiti were posted on social media.

The New York Police Department also said this week it was working to identify the individual behind a call-and-response chant on a subway car asking Zionists to identify themselves.

The White House earlier this week condemned a protest outside the Nova exhibit in New York, which honors the victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The protests took place Monday night; a large crowd gathered outside the exhibit, where they lit flares and chanted “long live the intifada,” CBS reported.

The Anti-Defamation League, a leading anti-hate organization, found antisemitic incidents in the U.S. rose 360 percent in the three months after the Oct. 7 attacks that left more than 1,100 Israelis dead and set off a wider conflict that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza dead.

The White House has condemned antisemitism repeatedly since the Oct. 7 attacks, with Biden pushing back on college campus protests and warning Americans against forgetting about the events that took place in Israel.