Top Israeli TikTok employee resigns after accusing company of antisemitism
Barak Herscowitz announced his resignation on X, saying “Am Yisrael Chai.”

Creators on TikTok claim the app has become increasingly hostile for Jews. Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Barak Herscowitz, a lobbyist for TikTok in Israel, resigned from his post Monday amidst accusations that the app is promoting antisemitism.
According to a statement he posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Hercowitz said that “people’s priorities become sharpened” during war and chaos, which led to him stepping down. “Am Yisrael Chai,” he added at the end of the post.
Jewish Insider reported that in 2023, Herscowitz, whose LinkedIn says he was the “vertical lead in the government and public sector” at TikTok, sent a memo to senior management at the company alleging anti-Israel bias on the app.
The memo noted that paid video campaigns about the plight of the Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7 were rejected for being “too political” while paid campaigns for “humanitarian campaigns that serve Hamas’ narrative, while fundraising for children in Gaza” were accepted. Additionally, the memo alleged that content uploaded by users showing graphic pro-Palestinian content were not removed, despite violating safety policies on the platform, due to biased and politically motivated moderation teams.
TikTok denied the claims and said its policies were applied without bias. The platform does not allow “political or issues-based advertising” or videos depicting violence. It does allow humanitarian campaigns.
Other Jewish employees at TikTok have claimed that the work environment is hostile, citing antisemitic posts on Lark, the company’s internal messaging system. Additionally, they said that a support group for Palestinians was created at the company after the war, but not one for Israelis; a Jewish affinity group, MazalTok, already exists at TikTok.
Jewish content creators on the app have long complained about antisemitic harassment on their accounts, which has risen since the war began. Antisemitic videos often remain up even after being flagged to moderators. TikTok met with Jewish creators and leaders to discuss the issues in December.
TikTok wrote in a statement on its blog that they are working to address antisemitism on the app through ongoing anti-bias training with their moderators and creating a new team to address antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Following Herscowitz’s resignation, some have been urging other Jewish employees at the company to resign on X. “If you work at TikTok and have a conscience,” wrote Michael Eisenberg, a venture capitalist funding Israeli companies, “then follow Barak’s lead and resign!”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.