Pro-Netanyahu appeal sparks hostility as American Jewish activists ignore unity while appeasing anti-Israel radicals.
A dramatic confrontation unfolded at the American Zionist Movement (AZM) conference when ZOA-Betar leader Ben Kogan publicly urged President Isaac Herzog to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an immediate and unconditional pardon. Kogan called the move a “national urgency,” emphasizing that Israel needs unity—not division—during an ongoing multi-front war waged by Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian proxies.
The request was instantly met with hostility from the audience, which erupted in boos as Kogan spoke. Herzog tried to defuse the tension, insisting the event focus on American Zionist challenges rather than Netanyahu’s trial. However, the reaction highlighted the widening split between Israel’s defenders and segments of the American Jewish community increasingly influenced by anti-Israel narratives.
Kogan later wrote to Arutz Sheva claiming event staff cut off his microphone and summoned detectives to remove him—actions he said revealed an alarming intolerance toward unapologetically pro-Netanyahu voices. “It’s not Bibi who should ask for forgiveness,” Kogan wrote. “It’s the Jewish people who undermine him in wartime while staying silent about Hamas supporters burning American flags.”
Ronn Torossian, Chairman of Betar Worldwide, condemned the crowd’s treatment of Kogan. He questioned the “pluralism” that American Jewish organizations claim to champion, noting that the same people who lecture Israel about democracy turned to jeering when someone echoed former President Trump’s call for a pardon. Torossian stressed that Netanyahu remains Israel’s democratically elected wartime leader, yet many American activists treat him with more fury than they show toward Israel’s sworn enemies.
Torossian added that the AZM’s decision to involve the NYPD against a Zionist leader was symbolic of a fearful and fractured New York Jewish community. At a moment when global antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism surge, he warned, silencing pro-Israel voices only emboldens those who demonize Israel while excusing the violence of Hamas and other terror groups.
