The NYPD will boost patrols around synagogues and other places of worship as New York City’s Jewish community prepares for Shabbat after two Israeli Embassy staffers were murdered in DC.
Mayor Eric Adams denounced the brutal slaying of the young couple and slammed recent proPalestinian protests in the Big Apple as antisemitic while speaking at the Center for Jewish History Thursday.
“We may not agree on politics,” Adams said, “but we must agree that we won’t let hate or violence take anyone.”
Adams compared the stepped-up security in the city to the NYPD’s action on Oct. 8 — the day after Hamas terror attacks on the Jewish State. Adams said the security is precautionary and there have been no tangible threats on targets in the five boroughs.
Hizzoner railed against local pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have sparked up in response to Israel’s ongoing military action in Gaza that was launched after the Oct. 7 attacks.
“We have heard so many people claim these protests aren’t antisemitic, they’re just anti-Israel. We cannot color-code hatred,” Adams said.
City officials made the announcement one day after two young DC embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were executed at “close range” while leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.
The alleged gunman, 31-year-old Chicago resident Elias Rodriguez, shouted, “Free, free Palestine” as he was being arrested, DC police said.
Josh Kramer, director of American Jewish Committee, said his organization had set up the event with the theme of taking pain and giving it purpose.
Milgrim was a “cherished” member of public diplomacy with AJC who worked to bring peace between Israel and Palestine, Kramer said.
He described her now-deceased beau, Lischinsky, as a “welcoming presence.”
“This is what ‘Globalize the Antifada’ looks like,” Kramer said, referencing an anti-Israel rallying cry.
