Kalman Yeger Who Tweeted ‘Palestine Does Not Exist’ Will Lose Committee Seat

[additional-authors]

Erin Ben-Moche

April 1, 2019

Councilman Kalman Yeger

Kalman Yeger, a New York City councilman who tweeted, “Palestine does not exist” will lose his seat on the City Council’s Immigration Committee.

According to the New York Times, the city council’s leadership team met for more than an hour April 1 and decided to remove Yeger from the immigration committee.

The tweet which was posted March 27, was a response to a tweet by local Brooklyn journalist, Zainab Iqbal, who works for Bklyner. Yeger, who also represents the Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park, called Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar an anti-Semite.

Palestine does not exist.
There, I said it again.
Also, Congresswoman Omar is an antisemite. Said that too.
Thanks for following me. https://t.co/apM565HoEV

— Kalman Yeger (@KalmanYeger) March 27, 2019

Following the tweet, a protest broke out within the Orthodox and Pro-Palestinian communities outside of Yeger’s office March 28 in which Zainab was in attendance live Tweeting.

hello.
i’m at the yeger protest. a woman just asked me if arabs murdered any people today and if they burned pregnant women. pic.twitter.com/cUYvbKN00l

— zainab iqbal (@planetzainab) March 28, 2019

According to the JTA, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio condemned the statement and said Yeger should step down from the Immigration Committee if he does not apologize.

A two-state solution is the best hope for peace. I challenge anyone who thinks the State of Israel shouldn’t exist. But the same goes for anyone who would deny Palestinians a home. https://t.co/3JvnS4UOhm

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) March 27, 2019

The New York Times also reported that Council Speaker Corey Johnson was unhappy with the statements made.

“I found Council Member Yeger’s comments completely unacceptable,” Johnson said in a statement. “As I said before, they were dehumanizing to Palestinians and divisive, and have no place in New York City.”

Johnson added, “I do not believe that someone who engages in the type of rhetoric we heard from Council Member Yeger belongs on the immigration committee, which is supposed to welcome and support immigrants in our city.”

Yeger defined his statements in a recent interview with the New York Post saying, “There is no state by that name; there is no place by that name…That’s a fact. I did not make it up.”