Pro-Israel activist confronts Mayor Mamdani over antisemitism during NYC shop visit
Activist Stephanie Benshimol shouted at Mayor Zohran Mamdani inside a Borough Park Judaica store, accusing him of fueling antisemitism and calling staff a “kapo.”
Stephanie Benshimol, who describes herself as a “Boss Momma American Israeli Zionist” and leads United Zionists, interrupted Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tour of Eichler’s, a Judaica retailer in Borough Park, shortly before Rosh Hashanah. She shouted that the mayor’s visit was responsible for a surge in antisemitism, referencing her grandparents’ survival of the Holocaust and using Yiddish terms for them. As her tirade intensified, she called a store employee a “kapo” and accused the shop’s owners of pandering to anti-Jewish sentiment.
Employees asked her to leave, and she was escorted out while continuing to denounce the store. The episode occurs amid a citywide increase of 9.4% in hate crimes, with antisemitic attacks accounting for 56.9% despite Jews representing only 10% of New York’s population, according to recent NYPD statistics.
Why it matters
The clash highlights rising tensions over antisemitism and political criticism in a major U.S. city.
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