Jewish leaders condemn ‘Tax the Jews’ chant at San Francisco protest

Jewish leaders condemn protesters who chanted “tax the Jews” at an event in San Francisco yesterday.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who is Jewish, says that protesters had chanted “Tax the rich” at an event he hosted with Bilal Mahmood of the city’s board of supervisors and labor leaders.

The chants then switched to “Tax the Jews,” Lurie says.

“Suggesting that Jews are wealthy is a tired trope, and targeting our community at an event focused on creating economic opportunity for San Franciscans is decidedly antisemitic,” Lurie says. “I will never accept hate directed at the Jewish community or any community in our city.”

In a video, at least one woman is heard chanting “Tax Israel” and “Tax the Jews.”

For those curious, a source sent me this video of the press conference. You can hear a woman chanting “tax Israel” and “tax the Jews” about 30 seconds in. https://t.co/0fDb9H8TXH pic.twitter.com/PkdHLGzBc1

— Gabriel Lorenzo Greschler (@ggreschler) February 26, 2026

The chant stands out because it is aimed at the Jewish people, not against common Israel-related targets, such as “Zionism,” or Zionists.

“What does antisemitism look like? This,” says Amy Spitalnick of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. “This is hate and extremism masquerading as progressive politics when, in fact, nothing about it is progressive — and it only undermines the fight for justice, all of our safety, and our democracy.”

The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area says the chant “was a despicable act of antisemitism and must be universally condemned.”

Rudy Gonzalez of the city’s Building and Construction Trades Council, who participated in the event, blames the far-left Democratic Socialists of America, which he says “disrupted the event with antisemitic chants.”

The Democratic Socialists of America branch of San Francisco says its members had been protesting and that “a non-member joined the crowd and spouted disgusting anti-semitic remarks.”

“DSA members and other protesters asked her to stop, but she refused. We want to be clear that whatever hate she holds isn’t shared by DSA members and we categorically reject antisemitism,” the group says.