House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has condemned rhetoric suggesting that American Jews could face violence because of their support for Israel, saying there is “zero justification” for threats against Jews as antisemitism continues to rise.

The New York Democrat appeared to be responding to recent remarks by Hasan Piker, a prominent left-wing political streamer and surrogate whose commentary has previously drawn accusations of antisemitism. During a livestream last week, Piker blamed Jews for contributing to antisemitism and referred to Israel as the “Jewish ISIS.”

“If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action, not against the State of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews,” Piker said.

Piker also accused Jews of reinforcing the antisemitic trope of dual loyalty and argued that Israel contributes to Islamophobia.

“You’re running around basically tying your entire identity to a country that inevitably will be seen as, basically, Jewish ISIS, and you’re saying, as Jews, ‘This is all we care about.’ You’re making antisemitism worse,” he said.

In a statement, Jeffries rejected the suggestion that American Jews bear responsibility for potential violence against them, calling the argument dangerous and antisemitic.

“The malicious claim that American Jews are inviting violence against themselves is dangerous and antisemitic.”

“There is zero justification for threats against the safety of our Jewish brothers and sisters at a moment of rising hate. We will fight the cancer of antisemitism with the fierce urgency of now,” Jeffries says, without directly identifying Piker in his statement.

Jeffries is the highest-profile Democrat to publicly criticize Piker over his latest remarks.

Piker has also become a visible presence in left-wing Democratic political circles, including campaigns involving New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Halie Soifer, who leads the Jewish Democratic Council of America, likewise criticized rhetoric that could be interpreted as legitimizing threats against Jews because of Israeli government actions.

“We can’t create a permission structure for the targeting of Jews due to the actions of Israel, which is antisemitic, and there can be no place for rhetoric normalizing violence in our politics.”

“All Democrats should separate themselves from Piker. He’s a gift to Republicans,” she says.