Police in Brooklyn, New York
Police in Brooklyn, New YorkDeccio Serrano via Reuters Connect

A van driver threatened two Jewish men walking to synagogue in Brooklyn on the first day of Rosh Hashanah on Thursday, the New York Post reported.

The driver became irate at the sight of the visibly Jewish men and yelled “F–-ing Jew! Drop dead Zionist!”

Authorities said that the driver "edged toward” them “in a threatening manner" with his vehicle, threatening to run them over.

One witness told the Post that the driver had "loud Middle Eastern music or foreign music playing" and that he had been driving very fast.

The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident.

Antisemitic incidents have increased in New York City since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023. The NYPD stated that an overall rise in hate crimes in 2024 has been fueled by antisemitic attacks. In every month since October 7, the tally of anti-Jewish incidents has been higher year over year. Jews remain the group most targeted in hate crimes nearly every month.

An August report by Tom DiNapoli, the New York State comptroller, found that antisemitic incidents made up 44% of all hate crimes in the state last year, and 88% of those motivated by religious bias.

Last month, a Pakistani man was arrested and charged with planning a large-scale terrorist attack against a Jewish target in New York on behalf of the ISIS terrorist organization. The suspect is believed to have targeted the Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and was planning to attack either on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas massacre, or on October 11, Yom Kippur.