A masked maniac tried to disrupt Sunday’s Israel Day Parade, taunting marchers and supporters with a vile sign reading, “Kill Hostages Now.”
The protester, wearing a black mask, black shirt and wearing a Palestinian flag as a cape, was part of a group of anti-Israel demonstrators who faced off with pro-Israeli New Yorkers near the parade route.
This year’s Israel Day Parade in New York features numerous family members of hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas and taken to Gaza on Oct. 7.
At one point an Israeli supporter came face-to-face with a man whose face was covered with a keffiyeh — a traditional Palestinian scarf.
A protester wearing a Palestinian flag as a cape brandished a “Kill Hostages Now” sign near the Israel Day Parade.
The man was part of a group of anti-Israel demonstrators.
“Don’t step up to me,” the man is heard saying on video footage.
The NYPD then stepped in to separate the two groups before any violence broke out during the tense exchange on Fifth Avenue between 79th and 80th streets.
The annual Israeli pride parade took place under heightened police security this year amid a recent spike in antisemitic incidents and protests, including several that have led to clashes with NYPD cops in riot gear.
NYPD stepped in to separate the groups of protesters. G.N.Miller/NYPost
The anti-Israel protesters were out in force Sunday. G.N.Miller/NYPostThe protests followed the Oct. 7 sneak attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, which sparked an Israeli counter offensive in the Gaza Strip that has left thousands of Palestinians dead and more homeless.
This year’s parade was also marked by calls for Hamas to release Israelis captured on Oct. 7 that remain in captivity.
