A Brooklyn bookstore this week canceled a planned book launch, reportedly over the selection of a pro-Israel rabbi to moderate the event according to The New York Post.
Author Joshua Leifer was set for a live interview with Rabbi Andy Bachman on Tuesday at the Powerhouse Arena in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn to discuss his new book, "Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life."
However, the store canceled the event just a few hours before the planned start because the venue "would not be willing to host a conversation between me and Andy because they wouldn't allow a Zionist on the premises," according to Leifer, who described the decision as "unacceptable and unprofessional."
Leifer provided the Post with a recording of a conversation that he said he had with the store manager, whose name was not given. In the recording, the manager reportedly says, "We don't want a Zionist on our stage."
Bachman told the Post, "It was an utterly shocking, disheartening experience," adding, "They are basing decisions merely upon their own perception of my identity and this is exactly what's wrong with the current discourse right now."
Leifer said that the store managers "had roughly a week to vet Andy, in fact they even put the event up on their website with his bio and photo."
He noted that the store offered for him to host the event by himself, but he opted to select a different venue for the book launch instead.
Bachman added that while he's a "proud Zionist," he does not support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has criticized his actions in Gaza.
"It's ample in my writings … but in this day and age, anyone who identifies with the right of the Jewish people to their homeland is considered an enemy of their cause and it's something I never thought I'd experience in my life but I'm seeing it happen in real-time," he said.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.