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NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov Resigns from Women’s Caucus, Blasts ‘Woke’ Anti-Israel Bias: ‘I’m Done!’
By: Donny Simcha Guttman
New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn) released a statement early Sunday on X, formerly known as Twitter, announcing her intent to leave the council’s Women Caucus. She posted, “On Friday I OFFICIALLY left @WomensCaucusNYC because I can’t reasonably stay part of a body that purports to stand up for women, but refuses to condemn the RAPE, MURDER, and CAPTIVITY of Jewish women by jihadi terrorists without adding ‘context’. This makes them as useless as every other women’s org I’ve condemned for staying silent. Meanwhile, this Caucus literally cannot even agree on what a WOMAN is. I’M OUT.”
🚨 On Friday I OFFICIALLY left @WomensCaucusNYC because I can’t reasonably stay part of a body that purports to stand up for women, but refuses to condemn the RAPE, MURDER, and CAPTIVITY of Jewish women by jihadi terrorists without adding “context”.
This makes them as useless… pic.twitter.com/Jf4CeFPOs0
— Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (@InnaVernikov) February 9, 2025
Vernikov complained that no caucus-wide statement has been released in response to the visibly malnourished hostages recently freed. In a video blog as reported by the New York Post and the Times of Israel, she said, “How can I condemn and call out all these women organizations who’ve stayed completely silent [after the massacre] but continue sitting in a body that’s supposed to stand up for women’s rights, that’s supposed to stand against the abuse and rape and captivity of women, but cannot do that when it comes to Jewish women? We watched the footage of these young, 20-year-old Jewish girls get released from Hamas captivity and we watched this image of them being absolutely terrified. The women’s caucus of the New York City Council, made up of 30 plus women, cannot come out and make a simple statement condemning the terrorists without adding context.”
In response to Vernikov’s move, the co-chairs of the Caucus, Julie Menin (D-Manhattan), and Lynn Schulman (D-Queens), both Jews said, “As was explained to Councilmember Vernikov, members decided to put out their own personal statements, given that some of us had actually visited with hostage families in Israel, which we felt was more personal and powerful.
“It is unfortunate that the council member is seeking to politicize the lives of the hostages.” Eric Dinowitz (D-Bronx) the chair of the Jewish Caucus said that their caucus will opt out of releasing a caucus-wide statement to allow individuals to release their statement. Vernikov is bothered since she wants the caucus to have the courage to release their own statement condemning Hamas’s actions against Jewish girls, instead of allowing the political flubbing of pushing the responsibility of a politically correct statement on individual lawmakers. She thinks the political calculation is that far-left lawmakers like Schulman can tailor their statement to stick to their leftist agenda, instead of having the moral courage to call out the reprehensible things that occurred on October 7th.
Furthermore, Vernikov said she was terminating her membership with the Woman’s Caucus as reported by The New York Post, due to her opposition to the unscientific policies the Caucus supports in regards to men pretending to be women. The bylaws of the Caucus allow those to join who “identify as women” and their stated goal is to “…advance women and women-identifying people’s rights.” This is not Vernikov’s first time leaving the caucus. Back in 2022, she and Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens) left as they felt their political opinions were being ignored, but eventually rejoined the Caucus.
The news of Vernikov’s termination of her membership is part of a trend around the country of a divide of how politicians have responded to the atrocities committed on October 7th and since. Last year, a major divide in the Democrat party between lawmakers on whether to support Israel or to support “Palestinian rights”, a codeword for supporting Hamas, caused a political rupture for Democrats in some places in the country. Some terrorist-sympathizers in Michigan last year in response to the tepid support that former President Joe Biden gave to Israel, started the “Uncommitted” movement, which advocated Democrats to adopt a Pro-Hamas position or face losing thousands of voters in the general election.
In the end, many of these voters ended up sitting out the election, and in places like Dearborn, Michigan, and Passiac, NJ, where many terrorist sympathizers reside, President Trump made up significant ground compared to 2020. The continued effects of these divisions continue to be a problem for many left-leaning cities and politicians.
