{"id":505112,"date":"2026-01-10T02:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/505112\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T02:20:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:20:22","slug":"nyc-jews-line-up-for-israeli-bakery-after-employees-charges-of-genocide-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/505112\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Jews line up for Israeli bakery after employees’ charges of ‘genocide support’"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Sabrina Naimark, a Jewish Panamanian living in Manhattan, had been a longtime fan of the city\u2019s Israeli-owned Breads Bakery chain when she saw news that employees were rebelling against its ownership.<\/p>\n

Some of the company\u2019s workers voted to unionize this week<\/a>, and among their demands was that Breads halt its \u201csupport of genocide,\u201d citing offenses such as partaking in a Jewish food festival.<\/p>\n

Naimark\u2019s brother used to work for Breads and she adores its babkah and labneh, she said. When she saw a call in the Jewish community to support the bakery after the employees\u2019 accusations, she headed to the chain\u2019s Upper West Side branch with an Israeli flag on her shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of October 7th, there\u2019s a family that has been created and every single time we come with our flags to help companies that are being boycotted, to counter protests and celebrate Jewish pride,\u201d Naimark said. \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that we\u2019re always going to be here, stronger together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naimark was one of hundreds in line on Friday afternoon to support Breads as the city\u2019s Jewish community rallied behind the beloved bakery. The line stretched the length of the block on Broadway, with customers wearing stickers that said \u201cZionist,\u201d chatting, and holding Israeli flags.<\/p>\n

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The crowd gathered in response to a call from Shai Davidai, a Jewish community activist who came to prominence with his harsh criticism of antisemitism at Columbia University, where he was a professor until he resigned<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tShai Davidai outside Breads Bakery on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, January 9, 2026. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

Davidai circulated his call to gather at the Upper West Side location on Friday afternoon online, saying, \u201cWe need to show Jewish businesses that we have their backs.\u201d The initiative was part of a project Davidai is launching called Here I Am, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just nonviolent, peaceful activism. Everyone here basically came and said, \u2018Here I am. There\u2019s a problem, I got the call, and here I am to help solve it,’\u201d Davidai told The Times of Israel, calling the union demands a \u201cdangerous precedent\u201d and an attack on Jews and Israelis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came as a community, not just to support them financially, but to show them that the Jewish and the Zionist community is here,\u201d he said. \u201cZionism is normal. We\u2019re not these evil warmongers like we\u2019ve been portrayed and only if we all come out of hiding together, that\u2019s how we\u2019re able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo hate, no anger, no arguments, just a show of solidarity and support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tCustomers line up at Breads Bakery on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, January 9, 2026. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

The union, which is calling itself Breaking Breads, announced its demands<\/a> on Tuesday, condemning the bakery\u2019s participation in last year\u2019s Great Nosh, a citywide festival of Jewish food held on Governor\u2019s Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe workers refuse to participate in Zionist projects such as fundraisers that support the \u2018Israeli\u2019 occupation of Palestine, baking cookies with the \u2018Israeli\u2019 flag, and catering events such as the Great Nosh, which are connected to organizations that donate millions each year to the IDF,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

The employees at Breads, a spinoff of a Tel Aviv bakery with six outposts in New York City, say \u201cover 30%\u201d of the company\u2019s 275 workers signed cards in support of the union, which will be represented by United Auto Workers. They are alleging poor working conditions, low and unfair pay, and a lack of \u201crespect\u201d from management.<\/p>\n

But the workers are also calling on the bakery\u2019s operators, CEO Yonatan Floman and founder Gadi Peleg, to end Breads\u2019 ties to Israel. Both men are Jewish Israelis, and Breads\u2019 menu features items from across the Jewish diaspora that are popular in Israel, such as rugelach, challah, bourekas, and its award-winning babka.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tCustomers line up at Breads Bakery on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, January 9, 2026. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot and will not ignore the implicit and explicit support this bakery has for Israel,\u201d Breaking Breads posted on Instagram on January 1 in a statement that appeared in English, Spanish, Arabic, and French. It said it had announced itself to Breads\u2019 management days earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see our struggles for fair pay, respect, and safety as connected to struggles against genocide and forces of exploitation around the world,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cThere are deep cultural changes that need to happen here, and we need to see accountability from upper management.\u201d<\/p>\n

US labor laws do not generally enable unions to make political demands of employers, or protect employees\u2019 ability to take action for that purpose.<\/p>\n

Despite anger at the union demands, the mood on Friday was upbeat among the customers, the employees were cheerful toward the sudden influx, and all the interactions were cordial.<\/p>\n

Those in line were mostly Jews who were familiar with the bakery and lined up with friends and their pet dogs. Many bought challah for Shabbat dinners. Other supporters who could not attend in person placed orders online.<\/p>\n

Several supporters said they saw the union\u2019s demands as an abuse of union values.<\/p>\n

Matt Driscoll, who has served as a teachers\u2019 union representative, teaches at a school a block away from Breads\u2019 Union Square location, where he often shops.<\/p>\n

He said he was in favor of workers\u2019 rights and the union\u2019s calls for improved workplace conditions, but viewed their demands against Israel as discriminatory toward the owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther people are not allowed to discriminate against them and that\u2019s what it felt like, to me, the workers were doing, even as a unionist myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not in solidarity with Israeli workers and Jewish workers. It harms them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Maureen O\u2019Kicki, who described herself as a secular, non-Jewish Zionist, came to the bakery after seeing posts on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s an unfortunate movement in our country to use unions for political purposes against Israel,\u201d she said. \u201cI think they obviously have an incredible history in our country, but I don\u2019t think they should be used to weaponize antisemitism and anti-Zionism.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a similar incident, weeks after the October 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel, hundreds of Jewish New Yorkers showed up to support<\/a> the Upper East Side\u2019s Caffe Aronne after its employees quit due to the owner\u2019s support for Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy to see that there are a lot of people and it\u2019s peaceful and we vote with our dollars,\u201d said Lois Barth, who heard about the gathering at Breads from a friend and came despite not being familiar with the bakery before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what it takes. It\u2019s grassroots. It\u2019s being the foot soldier for what\u2019s right,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

JTA contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 Sabrina Naimark, a Jewish Panamanian living in Manhattan, had been a longtime fan of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":505113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-505112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115868416550073738","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}