Protesters in New York demonstrate against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his U.S. visit on September 19, 2023. Photo by Emil Salman

This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Loud chants of “De-Mo-Kratia” kicked off a week of unprecedented U.S. demonstrations by Israelis and members of the American Jewish community in New York City’s Times Square on Tuesday.

By noon, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was starting his day of meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, hundreds of protesters carrying Israeli flags and wearing T-shirts with various slogans of the different protest groups in Israel’s pro-democracy movement, were already gathering at NYC’s iconic junction.

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Among the protesters on Tuesday was former Israeli lawmaker Erel Margalit. Referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused protesters of allying with Iran and the PLO prior to his departure to the U.S., Margalit said: “You need to continue and speak out, and don’t let anyone call you a traitor because you are saving Israel’s future.”

Rabbi Josh Weinberg, head of the Reform Zionist organization Arza, said that American Jews feel the need to stand up against Netanyahu’s far-right government, which is threatening Israel’s democratic institutions. “We’re here as Zionists, as those who love Israel and feel deeply connected,” he said. “And we’re here to remind the world that Prime Minister Netanyahu is responsible for the dismantling of Israel’s democracy.”

Naamah Kelman, the retiring dean of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, joined the protesters and told Haaretz: “This government is budgeting billions of shekels to promote illiberal values in schools, to humiliate our Arab citizens and cement the Occupation of the Palestinian people in the West Bank. Netanyahu and his terrifying Ministers of Justice, Finance and National Security have forgotten the essence of Judaism.”

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie of LabShul, an alternative New York City congregation, told the protesters that he is “angry that, in our name, Judaism has become Hawara Judaism and human rights are being trampled. We must demand change. “

This is the second time that this group has held its own protest in the States since the wave of overseas rallies started some nine months ago, usually preferring to join the UnXeptable protests. This time, however, group leader Maya Herman said they felt they needed to do something on their own because they felt their message was being ignored. This demonstration contrasted sharply with the other ones held on Tuesday, where there was a sea of Israeli flags.

In the evening, around 200 protesters – most of them Israelis – demonstrated across from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where U.S. President Joe Biden was hosting world leaders – among them, according to reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Protesters prepared a special art installation: Portraits in the style of known artists, depicting Netanyahu as a prisoner.

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