Two Jewish men riding the New York City subway were attacked Monday night after returning from a Hanukkah celebration at Union Square.
The incident was posted to X by Libby Blana Alon, whose X profile identifies her as a correspondent for Israeli news Channel 14. Alon labeled the post, “Anti-Semitism on the Manhattan Subway.”
“A father and son attacked a few young Chabad emissaries returning from a Hanukkah event in Manhattan on their way back to [the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement in Brooklyn]. They beat them and cursed at them for being Jewish,” she posted.
The footage shows one attacker saying, “I’ll kill you.”
WARNING: The following video contains language and violence that some may find disturbing.
🚨wow! Anti-Semitism on the Manhattan Subway. A father and son attacked a few young Chabad emissaries returning from a Hanukkah event in Manhattan on their way back to 770. They beat them and cursed at them for being Jewish. pic.twitter.com/c5Eu6qT87B
— Libby Blanca Alon לבי בלנקה אלון (@libby_alon) December 16, 2025
In another post, she noted that a complaint was filed with the police.
“They yelled at me, and the son said, ‘I’ll kill you,’” Mendy Asraf, 20, who was visiting from Israel, said. He said he believes the attackers were father and son, according to the New York Post.
“I was really afraid. When he made his fingers the sign of a gun towards me, I was really afraid. I didn’t know what he had in his pockets,” Asraf said.
Asraf said the group, fearing for their lives, got off at the next stop to file a complaint.
“I thought it could be a very dangerous situation,” he said.
“We look like religious Jews,” Asraf noted. “They recognized our appearance along with the menorahs,” which he said they had as part of their celebration of Hanukkah.
Asraf said that, coming on the heels of Sunday’s massacre of Jews in Sydney, Australia, the group was fearful of what could take place.
“After Sydney, it’s not realistic to try to even fight with these people because you don’t know what they have in their pockets,” he said.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said he tried to counsel one victim, according to CBS News.
“I spoke with one of them. We encouraged them to be strong, to prevail,” he said. “Unfortunately, this Hanukkah became a hunting ground against Jews, all around the world. We saw it happen in Sydney, Australia. We saw what happened here in New York City,” he said.
“I am deeply, we are deeply pained and grieving this week,” Devorah Halberstam, whose son was murdered in 1994 by an anti-Semitic gunman.
“Unfortunately, they were attacked on the subway just for who they are, as identifiable Jewish kids with the yarmulkes and the hats on the head,” Halberstam said.
The subway attack came a day before a Tuesday-night stabbing police said was an anti-Semitic crime.
“We will continue to celebrate our holidays. They will not intimidate us,” Danon said. “We will continue with our religion, and we are proud of it.”
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
