Jewish journalist says NYC bartender refused to serve him over Zionist views: suit
A conservative Jewish journalist says he was harassed and humiliated by a bartender at a Brooklyn bar — who refused to serve him and heckled him out of the establishment over his Zionist views, according to a new lawsuit.
Elad Eliahu, 29 – “a proud Jewish-American,” Zionist and independent reporter – was on a first date with a woman at Swell Dive in Bedford-Stuyvesant when bartender Alvin Dan on April 9 asked him if he “was in fact Elad, and purposely mispronounced his name,” the Brooklyn Supreme Court lawsuit states.
The bartender then told Eliahu to leave the bar “or he was going to embarrass” him, the suit, filed Friday, alleges.
Dan, 31, of Staten Island, called Eliahu a “Zionist Fascist” and “falsely” claimed that Eliahu “harasses abortion patients” and “doxes people’s” through his reporting –- all in front of the date and the other bar patrons, the lawsuit alleges.
Eliahu told his date to leave “for the sake of her safety,” the filing states. And when Eliahu started walking out, Dan allegedly recorded himself on video taunting and harassing the embarrassed patron down the street, according to the suit.
“Why are you walking away?” Dan allegedly says in the video, according to the suit. “That’s Elad, I can’t believe it, cannot believe that [he] has the balls to have a f–king social life.”
Dan also allegedly told Eliahu to never come back to the neighborhood, the filing claims.
Eliahu “was unlawfully ridiculed, discriminated against, denied service and kicked out of the Swell Dive on account of his race, national origin and creed because he identifies as a Zionist,” his suit charges.
After, Dan recorded more videos of himself which he posted on his Instagram account saying that Eliahu’s date “had no idea that she was about to go home with a f–king proud Zionist,” the suit alleges.
“I was very embarrassed,” Eliahu told The Post of the incident.
Eliahu, of Long Island, said he was “angry” and “distraught” during the verbal attack — but he tried to focus on staying calm and not engaging with Dan.
“I was thinking to myself to keep my cool and not respond,” Eliahu said. “I wasn’t going to start yelling anything.”
Still, he contemplated – though ultimately refrained from – dispelling Dan’s alleged lies that he harassed people seeking abortions and outed people’s personal information during his reporting.
While Eliahu finished the date with the woman at a different bar that night, he believes the incident cost him additional dates with the woman, he told The Post. Eliahu said she was confused and hesitant about him.
“She was shaken up,” Eliahu said.
Eliahu later messaged Swell Dive on Instagram describing Dan’s alleged mistreatment of him and the bar responded, “sounds like your displeasure is with the bartender not the bar,” the court papers show.
Eliahu said he was disappointed with the bar’s response to his complaint.
Sanford Rubenstein, one of the lawyers representing Eliahu, told The Post, “As an employer, they are certainly liable for the action of their employee.”
“I was wrongfully refused to be served by a bartender and I believe because I am Jewish,” Eliahu said. “I believe if I wasn’t Jewish then he wouldn’t have said or done these things.”
Eliahu is suing Swell Dive and Dan for unspecified damages.
“This lawsuit shines a light on anti-Semitic behavior that took place at this bar, engaged in by an employee,” Rubenstein and Eliahu’s other lawyer, Mark Shirian, claimed in a statement.
“Let the message be sent loud and clear with the filing of this lawsuit, if you engage in anti-Semitic behavior you will pay a price determined by a jury in damages for your actions,” the statement continued.
“In addition we will be requesting the New York State Liquor Authority to open an investigation to determine if the liquor license for this bar should be revoked.”
Swell didn’t return a request for comment. Contact information could not be found for Dan.
Eliahu, who has more than 22,000 followers on Twitter, made headlines in 2021 when he was kicked out of a Turning Point USA conference after he rushed acquitted Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse with questions.
