Jewish US lawmakers are warning of a sharp rise in antisemitic threats and harassment since October 7, with Rep. Jared Moskowitz revealing voicemails sent to his office calling to “kill Jews and threatening that he would be “going down.”
Moskowitz played several voicemails during an interview with CNN’s Sara Sidner on Friday as he described what he said was a sharp rise in antisemitic hostility targeting Jewish lawmakers since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
Moskowitz says antisemitic threats have become constant
“We seem, Sara, to have passed a Rubicon now with these antisemitic threats,” Moskowitz said. “It used to be once in a while you’d see a swastika on a building, once in a while, you know, someone would say something online. Now it’s every day, all the time, on podcasts, online, in the media, in the halls of Congress, and they’re trying to get Jews.”
CNN played multiple voicemail messages during the interview, with Sidner warning viewers that the recordings were “deeply disturbing.”
Moskowitz, who is Jewish, said a police officer has been stationed outside his home around the clock since a man was sentenced to prison in 2024 for plotting to kill him.
One caller said: “The US government needs to kill Jews, you kill these f–cking nasty Jews, kill every single f-cking Zionist scumbag.”
Another voicemail said: “F-ck Israel, let them f-cking burn to the ground. You’re going down, too, sir.”
Jewish lawmakers report growing threats and harassment
Moskowitz is not the only Jewish lawmaker to report rising antisemitic threats in recent weeks.
“It’s no longer a Republican and a Democrat issue,” Rep. Max Miller, a Jewish Republican from Ohio, told Axios this week. “Both ends of our parties are wackadoos who hate Jews.”
According to Axios, Miller received threats warning that “antisemitism is on the rise because you guys think you own the f-cking world.”
New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler and Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman have also reportedly received antisemitic messages in recent months.
Jewish California Rep. Brad Sherman told The New York Times last month: “Across the board, we have never seen anything like this in my lifetime in public office. It’s like you turned the volume up from two to 10.”
Debate grows over antisemitism in US political discourse
The warnings from lawmakers come amid growing debate in the United States over antisemitic rhetoric in political movements on both the left and the right.
Moskowitz told CNN that criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Israeli government policy often quickly turns into broader hostility toward Jews.
“Listen, if you don’t like Netanyahu, great, go out and criticize him all day long,” Moskowitz said. “But don’t let people into your tent that you know are threatening to kill my family or my kids.”
The increase in threats also comes amid broader concerns over political violence in the United States.
Last year, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence was set on fire hours after his family hosted a Passover seder, while Miller reported that a man attempted to run him off the road while calling him a “dirty Jew.”
Moskowitz urged Americans to speak out against antisemitism regardless of political affiliation.
“We need good people to not be quiet,” he said.