Israeli President Herzog calls antisemitism a 'contamination of societies' as hate crimes surge

Israeli President Isaac Herzog issued a stern informing astir the planetary dispersed of antisemitism successful an exclusive interrogation with Fox News Digital astatine his Jerusalem residence.

"Antisemitism is an age-old plague which should beryllium dealt with by everybody, by each societies. It's not an Israeli contented oregon lone a Jewish issue," helium said.

"It's a contamination of societies that starts with the Jew — ne'er ends with them. It's the astir unsafe phenomena that has to beryllium dealt with aggressively, with nary mercy, with afloat adjudication, and astir importantly, with education," helium added.

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President Isaac Herzog of IsraelMayor Mamdani, Israel's narration with the U.S. successful an interrogation with Fox News Digital successful Jerusalem, Israel.  (Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL for Fox News Digital)

Herzog's informing comes arsenic recently released New York City Police Department (NYPD) information amusement anti-Jewish incidents accounted for 56.9% of each confirmed hatred crimes since the commencement of 2026, adjacent though Jewish New Yorkers marque up lone astir 10% of the city's population.

Herzog pointed to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom helium accused of spreading hatred and compromising the lives of New Yorkers.

"Mamdani does not respect my nation's close for self-determination — the Jewish people's inherent close to person a federation of their own. And he's fundamentally spreading blasphemy, hate, antisemitic rhetoric. He should recognize that he's risking his ain citizens, he’s risking their safety, well-being and life," Herzog told Fox News Digital.

In a video posted connected societal media connected July 21, Mamdani called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "a warfare criminal" and "the designer of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people."

Days later, Raul Morales, 51, allegedly yelled "Allahu Akbar" portion stabbing 2 men connected Manhattan's Upper West Side, including 1 who was visibly identifiable arsenic Jewish.

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Members of the Jewish assemblage presumption the country of an antisemitic arson onslaught successful the Golders Green vicinity of northbound London, connected Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)

"We've seen the stabbing conscionable a fewer days agone ... conscionable due to the fact that idiosyncratic was dressed arsenic an Orthodox Jew. This cannot beryllium accepted successful New York, which is simply a metropolis that is beloved to our heart, beloved to Israelis, and beloved to maine personally," Herzog said.

More broadly, a study released past period by the J7 Large Communities' Task Force Against Antisemitism recovered that 20 radical were killed successful antisemitic attacks crossed 7 countries extracurricular Israel successful 2025, marking the deadliest twelvemonth for specified unit successful the Jewish diaspora since 1994.

The J7 comprises Jewish communities successful the United States, Australia, Canada, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

People locomotion done Times Square arsenic they enactment successful an anti-Israel rally connected Oct. 4, 2025, successful New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

According to the report, much than 23,000 antisemitic incidents were recorded crossed the J7 countries past year, representing a 97% summation successful convulsive attacks and a 136% emergence successful wide incidents compared with 2022.

"Of course, Israel is doing its best, but it has to beryllium an effort with governments each implicit the world, instrumentality enforcement agencies, acquisition systems and Jewish communities, which we attraction astir a lot," Herzog said, successful notation to confronting Jew-hatred.

Referencing a caller nonfiction by Prof. Niall Ferguson titled "The Death of History," helium said, "How overmuch TikTok oregon the societal networks distort the facts of history? They negate the worst and top fearfulness of humankind, the Holocaust. And that's wherefore we person to basal up unneurotic and combat it," helium told Fox News Digital.

Herzog stressed that misinformation dispersed done distorted and superficial channels makes it casual to smear Israel connected societal media, but that specified narratives bash not bespeak reality.

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Aerial presumption of Israel's Mediterranean coastal (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP via Getty Images)

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"[Israel] is the spot wherever the Startup Nation flourishes. This is the spot wherever large ideas are fixed to the satellite and lend enormously to the satellite successful truthful galore large fields, from wellness to energy, to science, to agriculture, to nutrient security, to what not. There's a crushed wherefore Americans who sojourn our country, young Americans, autumn successful emotion with this country," helium said.

Growing antisemitism, coupled with polarization wrong and betwixt Jewish communities and a weakening consciousness of Jewish individuality successful immoderate places, led Herzog to motorboat Voice of the People successful April 2023. The inaugural brings unneurotic a assembly of 150 emerging leaders — one-third from Israel, one-third from the United States and the remainder from astir the world.

Leaders are selected done an algorithm from thousands of candidates and service rotating presumption of astir 2 years, processing ideas to code challenges facing the Jewish world.

The inaugural held an in-person kick-off acme successful March 2025 successful Haifa, featuring Herzog and bringing unneurotic each assembly members, reflecting his content successful gathering the adjacent procreation of Jewish leadership, which helium described arsenic 1 of his main tasks.

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"I'm overjoyed by the large ideas I spot and feel, and I anticipation that astir November we volition person a caller registration starting for the adjacent slot, the adjacent cohort, and I invitation arsenic galore Jewish friends to register," helium said.