- Izak Kadosh faces over 40 charges, many of them hate crimes, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.
- Prosecutors stated that the attacks in Brooklyn persisted for months.
A Jewish man from Brooklyn has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and hate crimes after repeatedly assaulting his Muslim neighbor over several months, culminating in a break-in where he struck the neighbor with a mallet, causing internal bleeding, as outlined in a criminal complaint.
The man, Izak Kadosh, was taken into custody on Saturday, two days after the break-in, according to police officials. Mr. Kadosh is now facing over 40 charges, including attempted murder, aggravated harassment, hate-crime assault, and intent to damage property.
On Monday, Mr. Kadosh pleaded not guilty to all charges in Kings County Criminal Court, with bail set at $25,000 cash or a $125,000 partially secured bond. He is currently being held on Rikers Island, awaiting his next court appearance on Friday. A lawyer representing Mr. Kadosh declined to comment on the case.
The victim, Ahmed Faycal Chebira, stated that the harassment began shortly after he moved into the building, located in the Crown Heights neighborhood, in October. Mr. Chebira, originally from Algeria, reported that Mr. Kadosh would insult him by calling him “dirty Arab” or “dirty Muslim” and would spit on him.
“I told him, leave me alone,” Mr. Chebira, 50, said in Arabic on Wednesday. “Everyone has their own religion in America; I don’t have a problem with anyone.”
“I feel relieved now that they caught him,” Mr. Chebira added, mentioning that he was in the hospital when he learned of the arrest. “I was afraid that I would leave the hospital and he would be outside.”
The complaint details a series of agonising incidents that occurred: In March, Mr. Kadosh threatened to fight Mr. Chebira because he is a Muslim and in May, Mr. Kadosh assaulted Mr. Chebira, punching him in the head and pushing him to the ground, resulting in several broken ribs.
Mr. Chebira stated that he had contacted the police about Mr. Kadosh 14 times since April and had begun blocking his doorway with a mattress, sleeping with a knife nearby.
In July, according to the complaint, Mr. Kadosh threatened to kill Mr. Chebira if he didn’t move out, again referencing his religion. He then damaged Mr. Chebira’s door by kicking it and broke the internet cables outside the apartment, the complaint states.
In August, Mr. Kadosh allegedly poured white powder on Mr. Chebira’s door and threw oil and paint on his apartment’s window, according to the complaint.
On Thursday, Mr. Chebira said, a friend was staying with him due to his fear of being attacked. After the friend left the apartment, the door remained slightly open. Moments later, Mr. Chebira recounted, Mr. Kadosh entered the apartment and struck him multiple times in the head and body with what felt like a metal hammer.
“If I hadn’t protected my head, he would have killed me,” Mr. Chebira said. “Before he ran away, he told me: ‘I told you I was going to kill you.’”
Mr. Chebira was taken to the hospital, where he received several staples in his head and had a chest tube inserted to address internal bleeding.
While he was hospitalised, he said, Mr. Kadosh also vandalised items inside the apartment; a Quran was found covered in feces.
Mr. Kadosh moved into the building in November 2023, according to Bedis Zormati, a manager with Gardens of Eden Realty LLC, the company managing the property. Mr. Zormati stated that Mr. Kadosh held a French passport and had recently lived in Israel before relocating to the United States. He also mentioned that Mr. Kadosh targeted not only Muslim residents but also gay and female tenants, as well as a Black superintendent who worked there.
Mr. Kadosh’s lease expired on March 31, and an eviction case was subsequently filed against him in housing court, said Yoram Silagy, a lawyer representing the management company. During a hearing, the company requested an expedited eviction due to the trouble Mr. Kadosh had caused in the building. Mr. Silagy added that Mr. Kadosh did not attend the hearing.
Afaf Nasher, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations New York, issued a statement saying, “The violence allegedly committed is shocking, and to learn that Islamophobia motivated the attacks is even more alarming.”
“We hope that justice is served,” Ms. Nasher added.
