Shadowy Group Threatening U.S., Israeli Interests Claims European Antisemitic Attacks

A group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia first announced its existence in early March, after the U.S. and Israel launched the ongoing war on Iran. The shadowy organization, claiming antisemitic attacks in Europe amid that war, told CBS News it will target "U.S. and Israeli interests worldwide."

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya claimed responsibility for four attacks on Jewish institutions across Europe in seven days, targeting synagogues and other Jewish institutions. The group's channel on the Telegram messaging app, where it has published a series of propaganda videos, was created just last week. CBS News spoke to the administrator of Ashab al-Yamin's Telegram channel, who exchanged a series of messages, writing in American English, that ranged from explanatory to combative. The administrator told CBS News the group carried out the arson attack on London ambulances belonging to the United Hatzalah organization at night to avoid harming people, but warned that approach could change. The administrator, who referred to themselves as Asad-Allah, cited the conflicts in Gaza and Iran as justification for targeting Jewish cultural and community centers, as well as a building housing the Dutch office of the Bank of New York Mellon.

The shadowy group "looks less like a grassroots European cell that came out of nowhere and more like an astroturfed terror brand that has appeared suddenly in online ecosystems, plugged into an existing Iran-aligned network and experimenting with low-cost, high-visibility operations in Europe," Lucas Webber, a senior threat intelligence analyst at Tech Against Terrorism, told CBS News.

The State Department on Sunday urged Americans around the world to "exercise increased caution," noting that, in addition to U.S. diplomatic facilities being targeted in the Middle East and elsewhere, "groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or locations associated with the United States and/or Americans throughout the world."

London's Metropolitan Police said it was analyzing security video of the ambulance attack and detectives were "aware of an online claim from a group taking responsibility for the attack," with inquiries ongoing to establish the authenticity and accuracy of the claim. No arrests had been announced as of Tuesday. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the arson attack as "horrifying" and said he would remain in contact with Jewish community leaders, vowing to "fight the poison that is antisemitism."

The heightened security presence in Belgium followed an explosion at a synagogue in Liège last week. The blast caused damage but no injuries, but it was enough to prompt the Belgian government to announce it was deploying military forces to help protect Jewish institutions nationwide. Livia Ottolenghi, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, cited "a 400% increase in antisemitic attacks in Italy," referencing a recent report by the organization examining incidents during 2025.

The group's emergence is part of a broader, documented surge in antisemitic activity tied to the Iran conflict. The ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operation against the Iranian regime triggered an immediate online surge of antisemitic, anti-Zionist and conspiratorial commentary spanning the ideological spectrum. The ADL Center on Extremism recorded a rapid convergence of extremists, alleged anti-war activists, and anti-Israel groups around narratives including that the strikes were launched for Israel's benefit at the cost of American lives.

Separately, the Anti-Defamation League has documented a network of U.S.-based activist organizations it describes as promoting antisemitic rhetoric, though no direct connection between those groups and the Harakat Ashab al-Yamin attacks has been established. Among them is the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, which the ADL characterizes as "a radical anti-Israel activist group founded in 2006 that has expressed support for terror against Israel and espoused antisemitic tropes." Rasmea Odeh, a Chicago chapter founding member of USPCN, was a featured speaker on a USPCN webinar in May 2020. In August 2021, USPCN posted on X opposing Rahm Emanuel's nomination as Ambassador to Japan, citing his "Zionist ideology." In 2023, USPCN spearheaded a boycott campaign against Sadaf, a Jewish-owned food company, accusing it of being a "Zionist profiteer" with "sneaky ways."

The ADL also flags American Muslims for Palestine in this landscape. American Muslims for Palestine is described as being at the core of the anti-Israel and anti-Zionist movement in the United States, established in 2006 by UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian, who serves as AMP's national board chairman. The ADL has accused Bazian of having accused Israel of a policy of organ harvesting from Palestinians. Taher Herzallah, Associate Director of Outreach and Community Organizing for American Muslims for Palestine, called Holocaust film Schindler's List a pro-Israel "propaganda piece" in 2023. Osama Abu Irshaid, the Executive Director of AMP, also serves as chairman of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, an umbrella organization of eight major national American Muslim organizations. In December 2016, Abu Irshaid referred to "Zionist figures" who have "double loyalty, where they put the Israeli agenda the Israeli interests ahead of the American agenda."

Students for Justice in Palestine, described by the ADL as the most prominent and active anti-Israel student group in the United States, drew scrutiny in April 2022 when a student threw a rock at a group of Jewish students during an SJP protest outside Hillel at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, though no one was hurt. In June 2022, SJP chapters were among the most enthusiastic proponents of the Mapping Project website, which the ADL characterized as antisemitic and which included calls to "dismantle" and "disrupt" Jewish institutional infrastructure.

Sharon Adarlo, a conflict analyst with Militant Wire, said she believed the members of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin "appear to be volunteer or paid recruits solicited by pro-Iran elements." She expected further attacks by the group and possibly copycat actions, warning that "as this war continues, attacks will be bigger." Whether its threat to extend operations against U.S. and Israeli interests beyond European soil proves credible remains an open question for investigators on both sides of the Atlantic.