A man rammed a vehicle into a synagogue near Detroit that houses a preschool Thursday while about 140 children were inside, prompting condemnation from Jewish leaders who warned that antisemitic rhetoric and violence are escalating in the United States.
Authorities said the man drove his vehicle into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, about 25 miles northwest of Detroit, during preschool hours and was fatally shot by security personnel.
Officials said none of the children or staff inside was seriously hurt, though one security guard was briefly knocked unconscious by the vehicle.
The assailant, identified by federal officials as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon who entered the United States in 2011 and became a citizen in 2016.
The FBI described the attack as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community and said the investigation continues.
Rabbi Yaakov Menken, executive vice president of the Coalition for Jewish Values, told Newsmax on Friday that the attack reflects a broader pattern of antisemitic violence targeting Jews and even the youngest members of the community.
"And it's, you know, it's very important to consider what you just said because antisemitism is always about going after the Jews, any Jew, and especially the Jewish future," Menken said on "National Report."
"Kill the children, kill the babies. That was the intent of the entire thing," he said.
Menken said the targeting of children echoed the brutality seen in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.
"If you look at Hamas and its massacre of October 7th, the focus upon children burning them, beheading them, the disgraceful atrocities that were committed, you think for a moment that antisemites are decent human beings," he said. "It is completely wrong."
He added that such attacks are driven by hatred not only of Jews but also of the values the United States represents.
"It is the use of a pretense by people who hate freedom, who hate America's freedom, America's values, America's commitment to tolerance for all," Menken said. "That is what was under attack at that synagogue yesterday."
Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, argued that antisemitic violence often follows a pattern in which inflammatory rhetoric and conspiracy theories normalize hostility toward Jews before violence occurs.
"You know it's anti-Jewish," Goldfeder said. "Violence is almost always preceded by anti-Jewish storytelling, right? That narrative comes first and the body count comes later."
Goldfeder blamed what he described as conspiracy theories circulating in the media and online for helping create an atmosphere where attacks become more likely.
"And I think a lot of it has to do with these nutty podcasters who are mainstreaming grotesque conspiracy theories about Jews, and they're helping to build this moral atmosphere in which attacks on Jews become easier to imagine and easier to justify, and then easier to commit," he said.
He added that calls for general civility are insufficient to address the problem.
"Calls for lowering the temperature are not enough," Goldfeder said. "We don't need another round of vague appeals for civility from the same people who have been making a career out of turning Jews into convenient villains."
Instead, he said leaders must confront antisemitism directly.
"You need moral clarity," Goldfeder said. "You need leaders and media figures and institutions willing to say that antisemitic conspiracy mongering isn't edgy or brave or insightful. It's dangerous. Full stop."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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