New York City bank targeted with anti-Israel graffiti, windows smashed
Capital One location on Upper East Side defaced with message against Israeli defense firm Elbit and words 'Pal Action,' referencing UK group that attacked Elbit facility
NEW YORK — A Capital One bank location on the Upper East Side of Manhattan was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti on Monday.
Images of the vandalism showed that the windows of the bank were smashed and red graffiti on the doors said, “Drop Elbit” and “Pal Action.”
Elbit is an Israeli defense firm, and Pal Action, or Palestine Action, is a British activist group whose members violently raided an Elbit facility in the UK in 2024.
The US Treasury Department and the UK have designated the UK-based group as a terrorist organization.
Palestine Action US, the group’s US offshoot, rebranded as Unity of Fields in 2024. It was not clear who vandalized the bank, and the nature of the relationship between Unity of Fields and Palestine Action in the UK is murky.
Palestine Action’s social media and Telegram accounts have been suspended in the US and there did not appear to be an immediate claim of responsibility.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who represents the Upper East Side, said the incident was “deeply disturbing” and that she had urged the police to investigate whether the incident was an antisemitic hate crime.
The NYPD told the Times of Israel that, at 7:40 a.m., an “unidentified individual threw a brick into the window” of the bank, and that the police were investigating the incident as a “possible bias criminal mischief” offense.
Antisemitic crimes in the city are common, according to NYPD data, but the politically motivated, anti-Israel vandalizing of an institution like a bank is relatively rare.
The UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, two of the leading Jewish groups in the city, condemned the vandalism.
Anonymous submission:
Last week, a group of activists disabled the OMNY readers at the BQ Church Avenue station in Brooklyn with an automatic center punch and drill. They opened the gate so people can ride for free, and painted the cameras to protect themselves and fellow riders… pic.twitter.com/WsbZUS4v4X
— Calla (@CallaWalsh) October 18, 2026
Calla Walsh, an extremist anti-Zionist activist based in Lebanon, on Sunday posted an “anonymous submission” showing saboteurs disabling equipment at a New York City subway station.
Walsh, who is from the US, was a co-founder of Palestine Action US, but has said she is no longer a member of Unity of Fields. She was arrested for vandalizing an Elbit location in November 2023.
The video showed vandals painting over security cameras and using power drills to destroy and disable card readers at the subway station’s turnstiles.
The activists left flyers that alleged connections between the company producing the transit equipment and Israel, according to the footage.
“Every time you tap, you’re sending money to a war profiteer. Stop the genocide. Free Palestine,” the flyers said.
The US is attempting to extradite another co-founder of Palestine Action US, Fergie Chambers, from Spain.