Top Israeli officials on Monday praised outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as the vocal Israel advocate visited the country shortly before he ends his term at the end of the year.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Adams at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv. According to his office, he thanked the outgoing mayor “for his great support for Israel and on being a true friend of the Jewish people.”
President Isaac Herzog met with Adams at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, thanking the politician for his support and voicing concern over New York’s future as far-left mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a longtime anti-Israel activist, prepares to take office in the city, home to the Diaspora’s largest Jewish community.
“You are a dear, dear friend of Israel and the Jewish people,” Herzog told Adams, according to a readout shared by the president’s office, recalling the mayor’s “historic visit” to Israel during the early days of the war with Hamas.
Herzog added that Israelis are concerned about New York following Mamdani’s victory in the mayoral elections there earlier this month. Adams has emphasized combating antisemitism during his time in office, which concludes at the end of 2025.
“As you know, we are worried about how things will look post the mayoral elections in New York,” Herzog said. A range of US Jewish leaders and organizations have voiced concern that Mamadani’s longtime opposition to Israel could fuel antisemitism in the city. Mamdani has pledged to combat antisemitism as mayor.
Responding to Herzog, Adam referred to the election results, saying, “We want to clearly send the right message that 49 percent of New Yorkers made it clear that they don’t embrace the philosophy of anti-Israel. We still consider Israel as an ally and as a friend.”
In Jerusalem, I stood before the Western Wall and prayed. With thousands of years of unbroken faith, this is a place of prayer for all nations.
“כי ביתי בית תפלה יקרא לכל העמים” pic.twitter.com/MtlRLTdLta
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) November 16, 2025
“We’re not going to deny the fact that there’s an increase in antisemitism across the globe, and some of the words that are coming from New York is something that we’re not going to deny. And I think right now, we need clarity… and I’m going to provide that clarity to fight against hate wherever it shows its face,” he added.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also met with Adams in Jerusalem, hailing him as “a true friend of Israel.”
“Mayor Adams stands, and has stood, unequivocally by Israel throughout the years,” Sa’ar wrote on X, adding, “He has always expressed a clear, moral voice against antisemitism of all kinds and in favor of Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Honored to host in Jerusalem @NYCMayor Eric Adams, a true friend of Israel.
Mayor Adams stands, and has stood, unequivocally by Israel throughout the years.
He has always expressed a clear, moral voice against antisemitism of all kinds and in favor of Israel’s right to defend… pic.twitter.com/52P8N4x4H5
— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) November 17, 2025
On Sunday, the outgoing mayor also pledged his support for Israel, while warning that the safety of Jews in New York was under threat.
“If I were a Jewish New Yorker, I’d be concerned about my children,” Adams said Sunday in response to a question about Jewish safety under Mamdani, at a reception hosted in his honor by the Combat Antisemitism Movement in Tel Aviv, according to a New York Times report.
“There is something to be worried about,” he continued in the report, advising that “the community must prepare itself” because “everything is not fine.”
Visiting the Western Wall on Sunday, Adams said, “As I finish, I wanted to come back here to Israel and let you know that I served you as the mayor, but I want to continue to have the title that’s more important to me than anything: I’m your brother.”
Mamdani sailed to victory earlier this month over centrist independent Andrew Cuomo, after a campaign that often centered on antisemitism and Israel. Mamdani won about a third of Jewish votes, according to an exit poll, while most Jews in the city voted for Cuomo, amid harsh criticism of Mamdani’s anti-Israel activism from a chorus of Jewish leaders and groups.
When he takes office on January 1, Mamdani will become the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations.
He has acknowledged that many Jews disagree with his stances on Israel and has vowed to fight antisemitism as mayor.
Times of Israel staff and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
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