Long Island diner owner ’emotional’ after taking down Israeli hostage posters

A Long Island diner owner who was harassed for supporting Israeli hostages after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack says his business is “hanging on by a thread.”

Peter Tsadilas refused to sit silently after the terrorist attack on Israel, and instead, days later, turned his Golden Globe diner into a call to action by studding the front with hundreds of hostage posters alongside Israeli and American flags.

The backlash was serious, and swift.

Boycotts, vandalism, broken flags, personal threats and staff walkouts followed, as once loyal customers and delivery services, like DoorDash, protested his staunch support of Israel in the wake of the massacre, which left 1,200 civilians dead and hundreds of others abducted.

And it’s impacted his business, Tsadilas, 52, admitted.

““People think there’s lines out the door. It’s the opposite — I’m trying to survive,” he said of the town staple that’s been a fixture for some 85 years.

“I never imagined this kind of backlash. But I chose humanity over popularity,” said the son of Greek immigrants, who added he hoped customers who boycotted come back after he was “branded.”   

“I never caved. I believed in this,” said the restaurateur, who boasted of serving the best New York steak, freshest ingredients, turkey burger and of course matzo ball soup “like grandma’s.”

Tsadilas was especially moved by the victims of the Nova Music Festival, the peace concert near the Gaza border where 370 young people were slaughtered and another 40 taken hostage. 

“These were mostly young people going to a music festival,” he said, noting his own 19-year-old daughter.

“I did it because I pictured my daughter. If she were in Israel, she definitely would have been at Nova.  All I have to do is put my daughter’s face in front of each and every one of them and I’d be crying,”  he said.

“If 50 Greek children were hostages, I wouldn’t want to be the only one who wanted them back,” he said.

He chose to pull down the hostage posters after 20 surviving captives were returned to their families after 738 days in Hamas hell, calling it “emotional” to do so.

He vowed to leave the Israeli flags, alongside a sign listing the number of days they spent in captivity, with the words “Never Again.”

“I’m grateful it’s over for the hostages who came home, and my heart goes out to the families waiting for remains,” he said, adding, “It’s something we would do again if we had to.”