NEW YORK, NY – Natalie Sanandaji, a survivor of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed over 1,400 people, said she feels safer in Israel than in the United States due to rising “lone wolf” attacks. Sanandaji made the statement during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday.
The Greater New York City area, including many parts of New Jersey have the largest concentration of Jewish residents in the United States. There are also enclaves of religious Jews scattered in suburbs around the city such as Monsey, New York and Lakewood, New Jersey.
Sanandaji expressed concern over the lack of awareness and seriousness with which the public and authorities in the U.S. are treating recent protests and attacks. She described feeling “sad and scared” upon returning to New York and witnessing demonstrations where attendees made statements in support of Hamas and against Israel.
This comes after the United States Customs and Border Protection’s San Diego Field Office Intelligence Division issued a memo warning that Hamas and other radical Islamic terrorist groups could potentially enter the United States via the U.S.-Mexico border.
In her interview, Sanandaji also criticized the media for its handling of recent events in the Middle East. She pointed out that initial reports blaming the Israel Defense Forces for a rocket attack on a hospital in Gaza were later corrected to identify Islamic Jihad as responsible. Despite the correction, protests against Islamic Jihad did not materialize.
Sanandaji further drew attention to what she sees as a disturbing pattern reminiscent of the propaganda and fake news disseminated against Jews before the Holocaust. She expressed concern that these trends are not being taken seriously enough, posing risks not only to Jewish communities but to the broader public as well.
Based on a report by DCNF.