NYPD investigating clashes outside synagogue between anti-Israel demonstrators, Jewish counter-protesters

New York City Mayor Eric Adams says the NYPD is investigating clashes between anti-Israel demonstrators and counter-protesters outside the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn.

The incidents took place on Thursday when anti-Israel demonstrators gathered outside the synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights to rally against an unannounced visit by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

The synagogue is a revered site for the Chabad movement and is located in the heart of the community. Neighborhood organizers said the protesters chanted for the removal of “Zionists” and called for an intifada.

The demonstration in the Jewish neighborhood provoked widespread outrage. Anti-Israel protesters often hold vitriolic protests around the city but demonstrations at synagogues and in Jewish neighborhoods are rare.

Footage later emerged showing a group of Jews following an individual down a street, shouting at them and chanting “Death to Arabs” in Hebrew. Anti-Israel activists claimed that they had been assaulted.

This is a truly disgusting and shameful scene, in which hundreds of men (many supporters of Ben Gvir) were physically attacking a single woman and a New York police officer protecting her, violently throwing objects at her and chanting “death to Arabs.” Of course, what the… pic.twitter.com/KySChYFMD1

— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) April 27, 2025

Adams says in a statement that the protesters “surrounded the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters — a Jewish house of worship.”

“Initial reports indicate that one female protester was isolated from her group, harassed by counter-protesters, and suffered injuries,” Adams says on X. “In another incident, a second woman was subjected to vile threatening by counter-protesters.”

The statement says the “NYPD is investigating these incidents” and calls on the women involved, and any others with information, to contact the NYPD.

“None of this is acceptable. In fact, it is despicable,” Adams says. “We will not tolerate violence, trespassing, menacing, or threatening. Hate has no place in our city.”