An Israeli educator was attacked in midtown Manhattan on Monday in what authorities believe was an antisemitic assault — the latest in a troubling wave of bias incidents targeting Jewish New Yorkers.

According to reports in American and Israeli media, 58-year-old Rami Glickstein was walking toward Mr. Broadway, a kosher restaurant on West 38th Street, when a man confronted him, pointed at his kippa, and asked, “Tell me about your religion.”

When Glickstein didn’t respond, the assailant allegedly grabbed the kippa off his head, threw it to the ground, and spat on it. As Glickstein bent down to retrieve it, the man punched him in the face before fleeing the scene, witnesses told police.

Bystanders called for help, and Glickstein was later treated at a hospital before being discharged. “My Israeli pride was hurt,” he told reporters after the attack. “It pains me that I couldn’t fight back, and I regret that deeply.”

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is leading the investigation and has circulated a description of the suspect: a man in his 30s wearing a dark hoodie. No arrests have been made as of Tuesday afternoon.

The assault on Glickstein is part of an alarming trend of antisemitic incidents in New York that have intensified over the past year, particularly since the outbreak of the war.

Earlier this month, Vincent Sumpter was sentenced to five years in prison for a 2024 stabbing attack on Israeli yeshiva student Yechiel Michel Dobruskin, a member of the Crown Heights Chabad community. During that assault, Sumpter reportedly shouted “Free Palestine,” threatened passersby, and stabbed Dobruskin in the chest — missing his heart by just four centimeters.

“He was threatening children,” Dobruskin later recalled. “I told him to leave — and then he pulled a knife.”

In August, the FBI opened a federal hate crime investigation following a violent assault on Jewish diners at a kosher restaurant in Queens. The attack, which occurred on July 20 at the Sissam restaurant, involved a group of men and women who allegedly screamed “We’re going to kill all the Jews” before attacking patrons. Two victims were hospitalized — one with broken ribs and another with a concussion and facial injuries.

One woman described the chaos: “They threw me to the ground, the women kicked me and beat me all over — my head, stomach, back, and neck. Then the men joined in. I thought I was going to die. I screamed for help.”

The recent incidents have heightened anxiety within New York’s Jewish community and renewed calls for stronger protection around shuls, schools, and kosher establishments. Jews remain the most frequently targeted group in hate crimes citywide, according to NYPD data.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)