William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, on Sunday spoke to Kan 11 News about the recent spate of violent anti-Semitic attacks in the US.

“I believe that what we’re seeing and have seen these last couple of weeks is anti-Israel activity that is showing as being anti-Semitic,” said Daroff.

He noted that the fact that the attacks are targeting Jewish institutions and people wearing a kippah “is an expression that this is not just about Israel. If it were, then the attacks would be against, God forbid, Israeli institutions.”

“What we’re seeing here is a manifestation of people taking out their hatred against the Jewish people by attacking us,” added Daroff.

“The fact that there are millions of people out there who are ignoring the fact that Israeli civilians were under attack by civilian rocket fire – it degrades the worth of Jewish lives,” he said. “So when you have members of Congress, when you have people in the media, when you have influencers who are ignoring the fact that these Hamas rockets were coming in and shelling your neighborhoods, I think that adds to the idea that Jewish lives aren’t really worth as much as they should be. And I believe that is contagious in that way.”

“I think the fact that political leadership ignore and degrade and minimize the lives of Israeli Jews who are being attacked on an hourly basis over the last 11 days by Hamas rockets has the impact of degrading and minimizing the lives of Jews all over the world,” opined Daroff.

“When people hear political leaders and others ignoring the fact that millions of [Israelis] were having to live in bomb shelters, being attacked viciously as civilians, that bleeds into the general communication and to the general discussion where all of our lives are minimized.”

Asked if he believes that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has criticized Israel’s response to the rocket fire, is responsible for the anti-Semitic attacks in New York, Daroff replied, “I believe that the climate which she is a part of, which minimizes the value of Jewish lives, is something that has spread like a cancer throughout America. I’m not saying that AOC is responsible for it, but I’m saying that the comments that she and those like her made, that minimize rocket attacks on innocent civilians, minimize the values of Jewish lives in the popular culture, and that moves into attacks on other Jews.”