Uproar Over Anti-Semitic Video Produced by Republicans in N.Y. County

The video ends by urging viewers, in large capital letters to “TAKE BACK CONTROL.”

After the video was taken down, Lawrence Garvey, the Rockland County Republican Party chairman, defended it in a statement.

“Regardless of your thoughts of the video, there are facts that cannot be ignored,” he said. “This is not, nor has it ever been a religious issue. It is an issue of right and wrong.”

He added that “anyone who dares speak up about overdevelopment, corruption or education is immediately labeled as anti-Semitic.”

Ed Day, the Republican county executive, acknowledged that the tone of the video was “unacceptable,” adding that he had asked the county party to take it down.

But, he wrote in a statement, “the content of the video is factual.”

“I have a great deal of respect for our Jewish neighbors and want them to know that as their county executive, I will always stand up against hatred,” he said. “That said, the concerns raised about overdevelopment are accurate, well-grounded and desperately need to be addressed, but this must be done in a way free of rhetoric and rancor.”

Mr. Wieder, the Democratic lawmaker featured in the Republicans’ video, said the ultra-Orthodox voting bloc was not united in its support for development projects in the region, yet was used as a scapegoat for overdevelopment.

“I was sad to see that my face was used in this terrible video,” he said, adding, “I myself am against overdevelopment.”

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