Albany, NY – New York State Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato confronted pro-Palestinian protesters who attempted to interrupt an event celebrating the achievements of the SUNY (State University of New York) system. The protesters chanted “free Palestine” and “end Genocide” while demanding that SUNY and New York divest all finances from Israel. While the protesters were screaming in elected officials' faces, Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato, a proud Zionist, would not back down from them and countered the protesters by chanting “Am Yisrael Chai.” While she was the only elected official to do this, several attendees joined in, while the rest of the crowd ignored the protesters. Eventually, the Hamas sympathetic activist left the area.

“I could not be silent and let anti-Semitic individuals have control of the room. New York and Israel have an unbreakable bond, and those who wish to promote hate speech and push false narratives about Jews and Israel will not be successful. I will never back down or shy away from battling this kind of hate,” said Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato.