Around 100 Jewish-American entrepreneurs took part in a special artificial intelligence hackathon in New York, developing tools designed to identify and respond to antisemitism, map elected officials and strengthen cooperation among community organizations.
The event, led by the Israeli-American Council, or IAC, was held against the backdrop of what organizers described as a sharp rise in hate crimes targeting Jews in New York since Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office at the beginning of the year.
Participants worked in teams to develop AI-powered solutions aimed at identifying expressions of hate, coordinating community responses, mapping elected officials and connecting allied organizations. Organizers said the tools could serve New York’s diverse Israeli-Jewish community across all five boroughs.
The hackathon was held as part of IAC EDGE, the organization’s Young Professionals program, in partnership with IAC MAGEN, the IAC’s community resilience and civic engagement initiative, which operates in 22 regions across the United States.
“We are seeing antisemitism becoming normalized, penetrating the streets, campuses and local politics. In New York, the data speaks for itself,” said Lital Carmel, IAC vice president of new leadership, who led the event together with Omri Kuperstein, IAC New York regional director.
“New York is full of young Israeli-Americans and Jewish-Americans who want to contribute to a larger mission. HACK4NY gave them a framework to do that through what they know how to do best.”
Carmel said the challenge for participants went beyond simply building new applications. “The question facing each team was not only, ‘How do we build an app?’ but ‘How do we change reality?’” she said. “In light of the troubling reality on New York’s streets, our community is not standing on the sidelines. We are organizing, acting strategically and building tools that will help identify and prevent threats, provide an organized and coordinated response, and identify meaningful allies.”
Participants competed in three challenge tracks. The first focused on developing an AI tool capable of turning a report of an antisemitic incident into a professional, rapid-response strategy. The second focused on automatically mapping elected officials by geographic area and categorizing them by position. The third focused on developing a mechanism to identify and connect with allied community organizations.
Developing tools to fight antisemitism
(Photo: DADA STUDIO, Israeli-American Council (IAC))
“The goal of the event is for successful solutions to be able to serve the organization in its ongoing work across the country,” Carmel said.
Among the projects presented was Rally – Report and Respond, an app that allows users to report an antisemitic incident within two minutes and connects victims with nearby community volunteers who can provide physical, financial, legal or media assistance.
Another project, CommunityMap, is an AI engine designed to turn a community contact list into a living network. Users can ask questions in natural language, such as, “Who can help me organize a safety event in Brooklyn?” The system then ranks and recommends relevant people and explains why each person may be a suitable match.
The first-place project, Know Your Officials, allows users to enter their address and receive a full picture of the elected officials who represent them, along with information about their roles and publicly recorded positions on public issues. Users can then contact those officials directly with a call to action.
The teams presented their solutions before a panel of judges that included Avi Flombaum, chief technology and product officer and entrepreneur in residence at Innovent Capital Group; Yariv Ben-Ari, chair of the IAC New York Council and a partner at Herrick; Dr. Matthias J. Becker, AddressHate senior research scholar at NYU’s CSA; and Carmel.
“When antisemitism is on the rise, the Israeli-American community does not wait,” said Tal Shuster, co-chair of the IAC. “What is happening in New York is a reminder that politicians with harsh anti-Israel rhetoric affect the streets and the security of members of our community,” he said.
Shuster also criticized Mamdani, saying: “The mayor must do his job: protect residents, keep the streets clean, protect the schools, and not involve himself in issues that are outside his authority.”
“HACK4NY is the way our younger generation chooses to act: not only to point to the problem, but to build the solution,” he added.
“When antisemitism is on the rise, the Israeli-American community does not wait"
(Photo: DADA STUDIO, Israeli-American Council (IAC))
The event was held in partnership with NextGenAI, Touro University, TAMID Group, Israeli Tech New York, Tech Tribe and Lovable.
The IAC, founded in Los Angeles in 2007, is the largest Israeli-American community organization in the United States, operating in 100 communities and on 58 campuses across the country, according to the organization.
It runs education, leadership and civic engagement programs serving more than 150,000 Israeli-Americans and leads efforts to combat antisemitism nationwide.
In 2025, the IAC joined the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Since October 7, it has significantly expanded its activities, including efforts to combat antisemitism, bring the hostages home, train leaders and build partnerships with pro-Israel organizations across the United States.