By: Nick Carraway

Israeli-born celebrity chef Guy Vaknin says he has become the victim of a relentless hate campaign that not only threatens his businesses but also targets his young children, according to the New York Post. The former Hell’s Kitchen contestant and Shark Tank alum described a disturbing barrage of anonymous messages and online harassment that he blames on unhinged vegan activists.

Vaknin told the New York Post that some of the anonymous notes have included photos of his children, along with vile comments accusing him of murdering Palestinian kids. One message read: “Beautiful child. Did you feel bad when you went to kill the Palestine children? Hope your child doesn’t die like the children you killed in Palestine.” It ominously concluded with: “You’re done.”

The harassment, Vaknin explained, intensified after the group Vegans for Palestine began publicly calling for a boycott of his restaurants earlier this month. According to the New York Post, the group smeared him for his service in the Israel Defense Forces two decades ago and claimed that dining at his eateries amounted to “vegan-washing” Israeli policies.

Vaknin, now 42, immigrated to the United States 21 years ago and built a thriving restaurant empire under his City Roots Hospitality brand. He operates eight vegan restaurants in New York City, including Beyond Sushi, Reverie, and Le Basque, employing more than 200 people. But as he told the New York Post, the threats and boycotts have cast a shadow over everything he’s worked for.

At first, Vaknin tried to ignore the messages. He deleted hateful notes, blocked senders, and avoided alarming his staff. But the hostility soon spilled offline. Vandals scrawled “Free Gaza” in the bathroom of his West 37th Street restaurant, Beyond Sushi. Business also took a hit, especially after the Sept. 4 boycott push by Vegans for Palestine went viral on Instagram.

“This isn’t just about me,” Vaknin stressed to the New York Post. “It’s about my employees, who are being punished for something they have nothing to do with. Their livelihoods are on the line because of these hateful online attacks.”

Influencer Sabrina Dahlmann, known as @Sabrina. the. vegan, also amplified the boycott. She claimed she no longer supports Vaknin and accused him of using Arab slurs, a charge Vaknin categorically denied. As reported by the New York Post, Vaknin admitted he privately messaged Dahlmann videos showing the devastation endured by his Israeli friends living near the Gaza border after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.

“Out of grief, I sent her what was happening back home—friends picking through body parts of people they loved,” Vaknin explained. He said the two even shared a meal in the past and seemed to be at peace, but Dahlmann’s recent post reignited the backlash.

In response to the mounting criticism, Vaknin issued a public statement condemning the “hateful online attacks.” He told the New York Post that aside from being born in Israel, he has no connection to the Middle East conflict and has never publicly expressed political views. “It is unfair and destructive to target our family and livelihood over assumptions,” he said.

But instead of easing tensions, activists doubled down, dismissing his call for peace as “both-siding the suffering.” According to the New York Post, the renewed boycott only intensified the threats, leaving Vaknin and his family feeling increasingly unsafe.