Pro-Israel influencer says Bibas memorial in NYC 'brought out the worst' in antisemites
Pro-Israel influencer Zach Sage Fox has gone undercover in the West Bank, where he interviewed a freed terrorist, yet he says he saw "some of the worst antisemitism" while filming in Times Square.
In the middle of New York City’s famous Times Square, Fox set up a memorial site for Ariel and Kfir Bibas with pictures of the two boys, orange balloons, orange flowers and a crib spray-painted orange. Orange has been used often to represent the Bibas children, both of whom were redheads.
Fox says the idea came to him right after it was announced that the bodies of Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Bibas and Oded Lifshitz would be returning to Israel in coffins.
"You know, sometimes I feel God gives me an idea. And this immediately came to my head," he told Fox News Digital. "It was within seconds I had this vision of a crib in the middle of Times Square."
Fox says that he knew many people who saw the memorial would "have no clue what had happened," but he thought it "felt like something we could do to make a statement, create an art piece around their honor."
The influencer envisioned the memorial as a place to bring people together in mourning. While some non-Jews and people who were not familiar with the Bibas children offered their sympathy, many others used it as a moment of protest.
"What was terrifying was it actually brought out the worst in a lot of antisemites who stopped by this memorial to scream ‘Free Palestine’ at us," Fox said.
During the memorial, Fox interviewed several attendees and passersby, and he said that the antisemitism he saw that evening shocked him.
The influencer told Fox News Digital that he interacted with someone who "was so bad, I actually called him out as an antisemite. I don't know if I've ever done that on camera."
After releasing a video of the memorial, Fox posted his interactions with those who protested the memorial, who he calls "Jew haters," on his Instagram.
When speaking to Fox News Digital about the fate of the Bibas children, Fox said it was a "worse feeling than October 7th." He explained that Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, had "a shock factor," but after a year and a half of war, "pain" has "festered so deep within the Jewish community that I think this one just had an even bigger wound, especially because these babies really became the symbol of Hamas’ crimes."
Ariel Bibas was 4 years old at the time of his kidnapping and Kfir Bibas was 9 months old. They were laid to rest on Feb. 26, 2025, along with their mother, Shiri Bibas, who was also taken hostage and killed in Gaza. The mom and her two young sons were buried together in one casket and all three were eulogized by Yarden Bibas, husband to Shiri and father to Ariel and Kfir. Yarden was also taken hostage on Oct. 7, but was later released as part of the ongoing ceasefire deal.