A far-left California mayor is facing calls for his resignation after he posted antisemitic conspiracy theories, including a claim that the massacre of 15 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach a week ago was a "false flag" attack, Richmondside reported.
Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), reposted a Palestinian Arab professor's false claim that the attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney could have been committed by an IDF soldier on his LinkedIn account.
One of the posts shared by Martinez claimed that “paid actors have a history of carrying out the false flag, anti-Jewish attacks in Australia then blaming others.” He shared another post which claimed that "the root cause of antisemitism is the behavior of Israel & Israelis."
The Bay Area chapter of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) condemned Martinez's spreading of antisemitic conspiracy theories and stated in a letter sent to medi groups that he “posted repeatedly on LinkedIn spreading false conspiracies blaming Jews for the Bondi Beach terror attack.”
“Such rhetoric is dangerously antisemitic, deeply offensive, and wholly unacceptable - particularly coming from a sitting mayor,” the JCRC wrote. “Words from public officials carry weight and when those words echo antisemitic tropes they place people at risk.”
Following the outcry, Nartinez deleted the offensive posts and posted an apology on his LinkedIn page. “I want to apologize for sharing my previous posts without thinking. Of course we know that antisemitism was here before the creation of the state of Israel. As I’ve said many times before, we should not conflate Zionism with Judaism. They are two separate beliefs.”
The apology was not enough for some critics. Former Los Angeles City Council candidate Sam Yebri told the New York Post that “Martinez has consistently and repeatedly trafficked in the worst antisemitism imaginable, and now has put the lives of his Jewish constituents in jeopardy."
A Richmond Rabbi also told the Post that “what we’re seeing is not legitimate criticism of Israeli policy. It’s hatred of Jews. And that’s where this road leads.”
Martinez has faced antisemitic controversies before. In August, he gave a speech in which wore a hat with the acronym "DDTTIDF," which stands for "Death, Death to the IDF," and identified with the Hamas terrorist organization.