An assailant who injured two people on Thursday reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has blamed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric for the stabbing of two people on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Thursday. The assailant reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar.”
The victims – a Jewish man and an Asian man – were hospitalized and are expected to survive, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X.
Police arrested 51-year-old Raul Morales as the sole suspect. “Detectives are continuing to work the case and determine the motive, but according to victim and witness statements, Morales yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during both attacks. The NYPD is currently evaluating whether this is a potential hate crime,” Tisch said.
Tisch added that although the suspect had no known history of mental illness, his mental state “may have been a factor.”
In a statement on X, Mamdani also said that witnesses and the victims reported hearing the attacker shout “Allahu Akbar,” adding that “these hateful and despicable attacks have no place in our city.”
NEW: 2 stabbed in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, including at least one ‘visibly Jewish’ victim; suspect yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ pic.twitter.com/6nq7hwiyt4
Saar described the incident as “a horrific anti-Semitic stabbing attack,” accusing Mamdani of incitement.
“This violence did not happen in a vacuum. Months of incitement against the Jewish state from Mamdani have helped create a climate in which Jews are targeted,” Saar wrote on X.
He called on the mayor to “end the incitement, confront anti-Semitism with resolve, and act now to protect the city’s Jewish community.”
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and called AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, “monsters.” Some Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), described his remarks as anti-Semitic, while more than 700 rabbis and cantors across the US signed a letter last month urging him to apologize.
Mamdani has denied being anti-Semitic. “As mayor, I will always stand steadfast with our Jewish neighbors to root the scourge of anti-Semitism out of our city,” he said in November 2025 after swastikas were painted on a Jewish school.
He also defended his criticism of AIPAC. “I used the term (‘monsters’) to describe all those who are preventing the birth of a new world, not solely AIPAC, but frankly super PACs at large, who are spending millions of dollars on deceptive and misleading ads that are blanketing the airwaves,” he said.
The US and other Western countries have seen an upswing in anti-Semitic incidents since the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza in 2023, as well as following the joint US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran launched in February 2026.
On one hand an assailant who injured two people on Thursday reportedly shouted “Allahu. But at the same time israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has blamed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric for the stabbing of two people on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Thursday.
The bigger issue here is in a statement on X, Mamdani also said that witnesses and the victims reported hearing the attacker shout “Allahu Akbar,” adding that “these. That changes the calculation.
If in a statement on X, Mamdani also said that witnesses and the victims reported hearing the attacker shout “Allahu Akbar,” adding that “these, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Reading that the victims – a Jewish man and an Asian man – were hospitalized and are expected to survive, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X — hard to argue with the logic there.
Think about it: the victims – a Jewish man and an Asian man – were hospitalized and are expected to survive, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X. That speaks volumes.
In other words israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has blamed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric for the stabbing of two people on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Thursday. Curious to see how this develops.
So the bottom line is police arrested 51-year-old Raul Morales as the sole suspect. Wonder how this will land.
On one hand an assailant who injured two people on Thursday reportedly shouted “Allahu. But at the same time israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has blamed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric for the stabbing of two people on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Thursday.
The bigger issue here is in a statement on X, Mamdani also said that witnesses and the victims reported hearing the attacker shout “Allahu Akbar,” adding that “these. That changes the calculation.
If in a statement on X, Mamdani also said that witnesses and the victims reported hearing the attacker shout “Allahu Akbar,” adding that “these, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Reading that the victims – a Jewish man and an Asian man – were hospitalized and are expected to survive, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X — hard to argue with the logic there.
Think about it: the victims – a Jewish man and an Asian man – were hospitalized and are expected to survive, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X. That speaks volumes.
In other words israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has blamed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric for the stabbing of two people on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Thursday. Curious to see how this develops.