Keith McNally, Famed NYC Restaurant Owner, Slaps Back at Haters of His Israel-Hamas Comments

The famous New York City restaurateur Keith McNally is staying at the center of a social media firestorm following controversial comments after the brutal invasion of Israel.

On Monday, Keith McNally, who owns the popular eateries Balthazar and Pastis in Lower Manhattan, among others, suggested listening to both sides in the conflict.

“The more Utterly Repugnant the facts, the Greater the responsibility to Listen to the other side,” McNally posted to Instagram. The post included a picture of Hamas rockets flying toward Israel, the New York Post reported.

McNally walked back his comments on Tuesday, calling Hamas “murderers and thugs." But the apology apparently did little to stem the tide of criticism.

Following days of what the restaurant owner describes as hateful messages, he defended himself in a new Instagram post on Thursday.

“I didn't say praise. I didn't say support. I said.... Listen,” he wrote.

NcNally said he received death threats in messages calling him a Jew-hater and a Hamas-lover. He also said he has lost “a big chunk of business” over the initial post, which has since been deleted.

“Whatever happened to Free Speech in America?,” McNally wrote. “This is not Germany in 1938. Persecuting someone unjustly is a form of terrorism. Have you no sense of decency, America?”

His followers rejected the comparison to persecution under the Third Reich.

“Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences,” one follower wrote.

“Somehow, you’re the victim?” another wrote. “Disgraceful.”

Responses were not uniformly negative, though

“You’re a good man,” one follower replied. “May God reward you for your sympathy.”