Dani Dayan
Dani DayanIsraeli Consulate in New York

Israeli Consul in New York Danny Dayan spoke to Arutz Sheva about his visit to Jersey City following the deadly shooting at a local kosher supermarket.

Dayan described the scene of the attack. "It was a difficult visit and two things were etched in my memory and will remain there forever. One is the grocery store with bullets in every corner."

"Not least, I will remember the second floor of the nearby synagogue. There is a yeshiva and Talmud Torah where 53 Jewish children gathered at the same time to study Torah. They were crammed into a small room far from the common wall with the supermarket. There, 53 children waited in terror so that G-d forbid the attack would not reach them while bullets whistled by on all sides.

"The situation, of course, is different and there is no room for comparisons, but the thought of 53 Jewish children hiding from the terror of their soul-seekers raises very difficult associations," Dayan added.

According to the Israeli consul, the anti-Semitic scourge must be stopped. "Today in the US and around the world, it is difficult to talk about areas in which anti-Semitism is more or less prevalent. There is no doubt that anti-Semitism towards haredi Jews dressed differently from their surroundings is 'easier' because they are easy to identify as Jews, but anti-Semitism raises its head all over the world."

"I was naïve and thought that after the heavy price that humanity paid for the German anti-Semitic madness of the last century, we would go 100 years without anti-Semitism. Today we are more experienced than our brothers then and we have to internalize and also recognize that anti-Semitism should be wiped when it is small, before it can grow to dimensions that are much harder to deal with.

Dayan said, "As the State of Israel, we do not have the authority to act outside our borders, but that does not mean we have no responsibility. We have responsibility and we also embrace it and embrace the communities and submit unequivocal appeals to the federal authorities here - both at the municipal and national levels - to work diligently in the field, in law enforcement and prevention as well as education."

The Israeli consul also responded to the executive signed by President Trump to combat anti-Semitism on campus across the US.

"This is a most important order which I welcome, not only in my capacity as a representative of the Jewish state in the US, but as the father of a student at a leading university student in the United States where anti-Semitism is rampant. I only regret one thing - that this presidential imperative was needed."

"I think most university presidents across the US are failing in their duties by not fighting anti-Semitism and so a presidential decree is required. I would expect academics leaders in an enlightened state like the US to take the initiative even without the financial threat the US President puts over their heads," Dayan concluded.