Jewish students threatened as imported extremist ideologies spread, while Israel remains frontline defender of civilization.
New York police arrested a 17-year-old student in Queens after he allegedly sent emails threatening to kill Jews at his high school, triggering a swift hate-crime response. The messages were sent shortly after midday to multiple recipients at Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights, authorities said.
Sources familiar with the investigation confirmed the emails contained explicit threats against Jews. The suspect was taken into custody within hours and charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime and making a terroristic threat. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is leading the case.
The incident comes amid a sharp surge in antisemitic violence across New York City. In recent days, a rabbi was assaulted in Forest Hills, and a suspect was filmed repeatedly ramming a vehicle into a synagogue at the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights. Newly released NYPD data shows antisemitic hate crimes jumped 182% year-over-year in January 2026, accounting for more than half of all hate crimes citywide.
The spike coincides with policy reversals under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, including revoking the city’s recognition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and lifting prohibitions on official boycotts of Israel. As Israel confronts terror and incitement head-on, the city with America’s largest Jewish population faces a reckoning over tolerating ideologies that normalize hatred—often amplified by radical movements and regimes hostile to Israel.
