Nicole Malliotakis, a member of the New York State Assembly and candidate for congresswoman in Staten Island, who was also the 2017 Republican nominee for New York City mayor

"Right now we see in New York City a rise of anti-Semitism," iMalliotakis said. "In fact hate crimes overall have gone on but the majority of them have been crimes against Jewish people, and in fact they've more than doubled over the last year alone."

"I believe it's partially due to the rhetoric we're seeing within our own government, from individuals who are newly elected who are spewing anti-Semitic, anti-American rhetoric."

She added that she believes it is crucial to "understand and be able to express" why the relationship between the US and Israel is so important.

Emphasizing that there is "a move towards socialism," she said, "We see anti-Semitic rhetoric, we see anti-American rhetoric, within the halls of Congress, within the halls of government."

"We've always had anti-Semitism in the nation, in the world, and it must be condemned, strongly condemned... We're seeing it within government, I think that sends a very strong message to our friends in Israel because they may be questioning, 'Where does America, where does the United States truly stand?' when we have members of Congress who are on a foreign affairs committee saying things that are hateful, saying things that are against the Jewish people, who are our number one ally.

"We're seeing members and elected officials in all ranks - city state federal levels - afraid to condemn those who are saying the wrong things, who are saying things that are not only offensive but are outright wrong.

"When you have someone trying to change the definition of what a concentration camp is and you just sit idly by then you're part of the problem. When we see people on social media using the term so lightly - 'you don't agree with me, you're a racist, you're a Nazi' - to use those terms so lightly and diminish the meaning, the historical significance, that is very problematic and I think very troublesome, because if we lose our history, if we diminish those words and those experiences and those atrocities individuals have experienced then we lose our way. And I think that that is the most important thing for me is to ensure that we're vocal when we return to the United States and when we see anti-Semitism and we hear anti-Semitism that we call it out immediately and forcefully and condemn it strongly."