'The Authorities won't protect Jews'| Betar issues 'travel warning' for New York City

 The Betar Organization has issued a warning for Jewish tourists not to travel to New York City due to mounting antisemitism in and around the city.

Betar, a 100-year-old international organization founded by Zeev Jabotinsky which has recently been reformed in the United States, wrote in its warning: "Due to rising violence and support for terrorism in NYC, Jewish visitors and tourists are urged not to come to NYC. It is not safe. Authorities will not protect Jews. Don't come to NYC until they remove the handcuffs from the NYPD and arrest and prosecute criminals."

“We issue this travel warning in pain as we say one of the largest cities in the world for Jews simply isn’t safe today. We urge Jews worldwide to avoid the area of NYC unless absolutely necessary as Jews are being targeted. If you wear visibly Jewish garb you are in danger as the NYPD has employed a hands-off policy for arresting Jew-haters. Worse, the DA doesn’t prosecute Jew-haters," a spokesman for Betar USA said.

"NYC clearly doesn’t care about safety and there are safer cities for Jews to visit than NYC. We will continue to train those Jews in NYC in self-defense but there’s no reason for tourists to put themselves in danger,” he added.

Michael Sinensky, interim executive director of Betar, USA said: “We issue a travel warning to NYC today in pain as we say one of the largest cities in the world for Jews simply isn’t safe today. We urge Jews worldwide to avoid the area of NYC unless absolutely necessary as Jews are being targeted and the NYPD has employed a hands-off policy for arresting Jewish haters. They aren’t prosecuted."

He noted: "I’m a lifelong New Yorker who was recently forced out as my wife was violently assaulted. NYC clearly doesn’t care about safety and Jews must speak up to ensure our communal safety. Simply crime isn’t prosecuted and quality of life continues to deteriorate. We urge Jewish tourists to avoid NYC.”

Antisemitic incidents have increased in New York City since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023. The NYPD stated that an overall rise in hate crimes in 2024 has been fueled by antisemitic attacks. In every month since October 7, the tally of anti-Jewish incidents has been higher year over year. Jews remain the group most targeted in hate crimes nearly every month.

An August report by Tom DiNapoli, the New York State comptroller, found that antisemitic incidents made up 44% of all hate crimes in the state last year, and 88% of those motivated by religious bias.