The language used by protesters who accosted and harassed California state Sen. Scott Wiener at a transgender pride march last week left little doubt that they harbored a deep-seated hatred toward Israel and Zionists. “F*** you and your Zionist handlers. F*** you and your Israeli masters,” one person shouted at Wiener as he walked toward a Pride Shabbat event, according to a video posted by one of the activists. 

Wiener, who is gay, said in a social media post that the protesters were so “physically and verbally aggressive” that he had to leave the event, which he has attended every year since its inception in 2004, entirely. 

He told CNN on Monday that the incident was “absolutely” antisemitic. “There were elected officials in that march who have not taken the positions that I’ve taken, and they were left alone,” said Wiener, who is running to replace retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the San Francisco-based seat. 

Wiener is a Jewish progressive who supports the U.S.-Israel relationship, but during the congressional primary he shifted further left and, under pressure from activists in January, described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide. Even after the reversal, he continues to be targeted by activists who deem him insufficiently critical of Israel. 

The trans march incident — which came days after Wiener was harassed at a bar by another protester who demanded he say the words “Free Palestine” on camera — was quickly and roundly condemned by elected officials in California. A divide emerged between the politicians who described the incident as antisemitic and those who did not.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who is Jewish, criticized the incident as “targeted, hateful and antisemitic” in a social media post. 

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told Jewish Insider in a statement that Wiener was targeted for being Jewish. 

“It is sincerely disturbing to see Jewish lawmakers, including Senator Wiener, face deliberate and ugly attacks,” Schiff said. “Dissent and discourse should be expected during a campaign, but this is something totally different, and not within the bounds of what’s appropriate in a liberal democracy. When lawmakers are being targeted and harassed because they are Jewish, and viewpoints are being ascribed to them based on little more than their religious affiliation, that is a problem.”

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said in a statement that the actions against Wiener were “unacceptable” and “crossed a line.” 

“We’ve seen a deeply troubling rise in antisemitism, violence and hate of all forms directed at people in public life, and we have a responsibility to push back strongly against it,” Padilla said. 

San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, Wiener’s competitor in the congressional race who is running to his left, said in a statement that she stands “firm against threats of violence and hate speech. There is no place for hate and violence in our city.” 

Asked whether Chan believed the incident targeting Wiener to be hate speech, a spokesperson for Chan declined to say.

“In this moment, what matters is how State Senator Scott Wiener felt and feels about the interactions. We must stand in solidarity against hate whenever someone tells us they are experiencing hate,” said Julie Edwards, the spokesperson. 

Pelosi, who endorsed Chan in the race, said in a statement that the harassment against Wiener “went too far, and I condemn all forms of threats and intimidation which have no place in American political debate.” Rep. Ro Khanna said in a post on X that what happened to Wiener “was simply wrong,” but used his condemnation to promote an amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to cut all U.S. aid to Israel. 

Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom did not respond to requests for comment.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee for governor in California, weighed in as well, though he did not say if it was antisemitic. “We want people to be able to express their First Amendment right, but do it in a way that respects one another,” he told The San Francisco Standard. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Republican nominee Steve Hilton, who has not spoken about the incident.

The state’s legislative Jewish caucus — which Wiener used to chair, until he stepped down earlier this year following criticism of his use of the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza — said the harassment definitively amounted to antisemitism.

“This was the latest in a series of hateful incidents targeting Senator Wiener that are part of a broader effort to exclude, isolate and ostracize him because of his Jewish identity,” declared a statement from the caucus, which is chaired by Los Angeles state Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel. 

Jewish leaders in California also decried the targeting of Wiener as antisemitic. 

“Attacking Jewish officials will not in fact ‘free Palestine.’ But these antisemitic incidents are sinister reminders to every Jew why we need Israel,” Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council, wrote in a post on X. Jewish California, a statewide coalition of Jewish groups, argued in a statement that “political grievance” is merely a “pretext” for attacking Wiener, while “his Jewishness is the target.” 

“The sin that he committed in going to the trans rally was he’s Jewish,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said on “Morning Joe” on Monday. 

After Wiener was forced out of the trans march, his campaign received the highest number of single-day donors since it launched, he told The San Francisco Standard.