NEW YORK — An assailant was convicted on Monday of an antisemitic hate crime for attacking an Israeli man in New York City in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of Israel.

The case came as a series of antisemitic and Israel-related crimes dating to the upheaval in the city in 2023 and 2024 were resolved in New York City courts, and marked a relatively rare conviction for an antisemitic hate crime.

Yehia Amin pleaded guilty to assault as a hate crime in the third degree in Manhattan’s New York Supreme Criminal Court. He cannot appeal.

Amin is expected to be sentenced in May to 90 days’ imprisonment, followed by five years of probation.

He was released after Monday’s hearing on his own recognizance, but had to surrender his passport to ensure he does not flee abroad.

The judge in the case warned Amin that, if he is arrested before beginning to serve out his prison term in May, he could be sentenced to up to three years in prison, a Jewish community courtroom observer told The Times of Israel.

The judge at Monday’s hearing communicated with Amin in Arabic through an interpreter, and Amin stated that he was a US citizen.

On October 18, 2023, shortly after the Hamas invasion of Israel, Amin stalked and punched a 23-year-old Jewish Israeli near Times Square, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in an indictment after the incident.

The man was with four friends, all of whom were wearing kippahs, when they walked by Amin, who recognized them as Jewish and pursued them.

Amin, who was 28 at the time of the attack, taunted the group, telling them, “Hamas should kill more of you,” “May Allah kill all the Jews,” and “All Jews should die,” according to the District Attorney’s Office. While Amin pursued the Israelis, he blasted music from a speaker that he later described as “Hamas music.”

The group tried to report Amin........

© The Times of Israel