Jewish man in New York allegedly harassed Muslim neighbor for months and tried to kill him

A Jewish man is charged with attempted murder and hate crimes in connection with a months-long campaign of harassment and violence against a Muslim neighbor, authorities said.

Izak Kadosh of Brooklyn is charged with more than 40 felonies, including attempted second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder as a hate crime, first-degree assault as a hate crime, second-degree burglary and second-degree burglary as a hate crime, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

The motive behind Kadosh's attacks was religious and ethnic differences with his neighbor, the indictment says.

Kadosh told his neighbor he would break into his apartment and kill him because Kadosh was Jewish and his neighbor was Muslim, the complaint says.

Kadosh was arrested on Saturday, two days after he was accused of breaking into his neighbor's apartment, destroying items inside, covering walls with blue paint and oil and smearing a Koran with feces, the indictment said.

That same day, Kadosh also hit his neighbor on the head with a hammer, requiring him to be hospitalized and receive staples in his head and a chest tube for internal bleeding, the complaint states.

Kadosh pleaded not guilty in Kings County Criminal Court on Monday. Bail was set at $25,000 cash or $125,000 surety, prosecutors said.

A public defender representing Kadosh did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

The neighbor, identified in the complaint as Ahmed Chebira, told The New York Times the harassment began after he moved into the building in October.

“I told him to leave me alone,” Chebira told the Times on Wednesday. “In America, everyone has their own religion. I have no problem with anyone.”

He said he feared Kadosh would be standing outside the hospital when he was released and was relieved that he had been arrested.

The lawsuit details allegations dating back to early March. Kadosh is accused of slashing his neighbor's tires, pouring a white substance on his door, hitting him in the head and knocking him to the ground, breaking several of his ribs and repeatedly threatening to kill his neighbor, the lawsuit says.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the allegations “despicable.”

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in New York, and we will continue to stand up against Islamophobia and all forms of hate,” Hochul wrote on X. “Hate has no place in our state.”

In the months following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s subsequent war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic attacks have increased in the country.

Earlier this week, a 22-year-old man was arrested and charged with multiple hate crimes after police said he shouted “Free Palestine” before punching a Jewish man in the torso near a Brooklyn synagogue.