Governor Kathy Hochul, you have a problem in New York. Apparently, your state is filled with rabid anti-Semites, and you’re not paying much attention to the problem.

However, if there is a self-aggrandizing moment to be had, Hochul is ON IT. Today, another group of hostages were released by Hamas. This time, young Israeli-American citizen Abigail Idan, who turned four years old just a couple of days ago, was among the hostages released. Her parents were both murdered by Hamas in front of her. Her older siblings survived by hiding in a closet. Abigail was abducted along with her neighbors, the Brodutch family. Once Abigail was back in Israel, Joe Biden gave a short speech about her and the continuing release of hostages.

“Two days ago, two days ago, one of our fellow Americans, a little girl named Abigail, turned 4 years old. She spent her birthday, that birthday … held hostage by Hamas. Today, she’s free, and [first lady Jill Biden] and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright. She’s free, and she’s in Israel now,” Biden said in remarks Sunday.

“What she endured is unthinkable. Abigail was among 13 hostages released today from Gaza under the brokered [deal] and sustained though intensive U.S. diplomacy. She’s now safely in Israel. And we continue to press and expect for additional Americans [to] be released as well,” he added. “And we will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones.”

Unless significant pressure is brought to bear on Hamas by all sides, including by the International Red Cross (who don’t seem all that interested in criticizing Hamas), then the ceasefire cannot continue. At some point, Hamas is going to run out of hostages, or they will simply refuse to release the hostages that they do have. And there is no way that Israel will agree to an indefinite ceasefire. Hamas must be destroyed, and the desire of the Biden administration for both an extended ceasefire and a two-state solution is a pipe dream at this moment. Hamas is not interested in peace. They are interested in buying time to re-arm and re-group, and they are buying that time with the lives of hostages.

The neighbors that Abigail was sheltering with when they were all abducted, the Brodutch family, were also released today with her. Mother and children were reunited with father Avichai, who came to the United States to push for the hostages to be released by meeting with multiple media outlets and politicians.

When I took this photo of Avihai Brodutch three weeks ago, he said “I can’t wait to show my wife. I look like an Italian model.” He never gave up hope, he fought tirelessly. pic.twitter.com/jZStuIci6l

— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) November 26, 2023

Today, all of his hopes and prayers were realized when his wife and children were released.

Freed: Hagar Brodutch and her three children, Ofri, Yuval, and Uriah. pic.twitter.com/ZRtcckNuX3

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 26, 2023

Enter Governor Kathy Hochul, who wanted everyone to know that she actually MET Avichai when she went to Israel. Wow.

Avichai Brodutch was one of the first people I met in Israel. He didn't know if his wife & three children were alive, taken in Hamas' attack on Kfar Aza.

I promised we'd do all we could & thanks to @POTUS' efforts, his family is coming home. All hostages must be returned. pic.twitter.com/urzuYg8Xux

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) November 26, 2023

I would like to know EXACTLY what Kathy Hochul did to help get this family released. I would like ALL the details. I won’t be holding my breath for any. Hochul didn’t do a damned thing but act sympathetic when she met Avichai. She’s the governor of New York – she doesn’t exactly have international clout to put pressure on Hamas to get hostages released. Notice how she tags Biden’s Twitter/X account in her post, but folds herself into any of the administration’s actions with the royal “we.” Good gravy, woman, not everything is about YOU.

You know what Kathy Hochul could do? She could deal with the anti-Semitism that has spread like a cancer across New York state. Let’s see, there’s the kosher restaurant in New York City that was vandalized. There’s the library that was defaced with bloody handprints after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade – not to mention the shenanigans that went on DURING the parade itself. There’s the Orthodox Jews who were attacked in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn by teenagers, caught on security cameras, on Saturday. And there’s just a small little problem of a riot in a high school in Queens because a Jewish teacher attended a pro-Israel rally.

Teacher forced to hide in a locked room while a mob of students riot after they learned she attended a pro-Israel rally. This happened at a high school in Queens, NY. pic.twitter.com/BtGrQoup0S

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 26, 2023

Students attempted to storm the teacher’s classroom, and she ended up having to hide in a locked office.

The mayhem at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica unfolded shortly after 11 a.m. Monday in what students called a pre-planned protest over the teacher’s Facebook profile photo showing her at a pro-Israel rally on Queens Oct. 9 holding a poster saying, “I stand with Israel.”

“The teacher was seen holding a sign of Israel, like supporting it,” a senior told The Post this week.

“A bunch of kids decided to make a group chat, expose her, talk about it, and then talk about starting a riot.”

Hundreds of kids flooded into hallways and ran amok, chanting, jumping, shouting, and waving Palestinian flags or banners.

The teacher had to be safely removed from campus by the NYPD.

The teacher gave a statement to The Post, which is withholding her name for her own safety.

“I have been a teacher for 23 years in the New York City public school system — for the last seven at Hillcrest High School. I have worked hard to be supportive of our entire student body and an advocate for our community, and was shaken to my core by the calls to violence against me that occurred online and outside my classroom last week.”

“No one should ever feel unsafe at school — students and teachers alike,” she added.

The teacher continued: “It’s my hope in the days ahead we can find a way to have meaningful discussions about challenging topics with respect for each other’s diverse perspectives and shared humanity,” the teacher said in her statement. “Unless we can learn to see each other as people we will never be able to create a safe learning community.”

The school’s deans, and a sergeant stationed at the school, finally corralled the students back into classrooms, according to sources and the NYPD.

Cops escorted the teacher safely out of the building.

While local officials like Mayor Eric Adams have belatedly condemned what happened, Governor Kathy Hochul has said exactly nothing about what happened at Hillcrest High School. But as soon as there’s a hostage story where she has a picture to show off, she’s running to share in the credit!

So maybe, Governor Hochul, you could get started addressing issues that are in your own backyard, and start rooting out the bigotry and racism that is being allowed to flourish all over New York. Seems like you have some work to do cleaning your own house before patting yourself on the back for not doing anything.

Featured image: Governor Kathy Hochul via Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Flickr account, cropped, CC BY 2.0 DEED