For more than 60 years, New York City mayors have marched alongside Jewish New Yorkers at the “Salute to Israel Day Parade,” now called the “Israel Day on Fifth” Avenue. But this year’s march, barring a sudden change of heart, will not include the city’s current highest-ranking elected official.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he will not attend the parade, which is a profound disappointment. The mayor’s understanding of the politics of the Middle East, and the founding and existence of Israel, is founded on a set of political beliefs that are not rooted in facts.
As one might expect, his planned absence from the march has stirred up anger among Jewish New Yorkers and leaders who feel insulted and betrayed.
Mamdani’s choice appears to be political, based on a statement his office gave amNewYork earlier this month: “While I will not be attending the Israel Day Parade … I’ve been very clear: I believe in equal rights for all people — everywhere. That principle guides me consistently.”
His decision is based on a stated personal, political belief that became a sticking point of his campaign last year.
In his view, Israel has a right to exist as “a state of equal rights,” but not as a Jewish state. The truth is, however, that Israel is the only state in the Middle East where there are equal rights; its neighbors are kingdoms, dictatorships, autocracies, and states that outlaw other religions.
Do you hear the mayor speaking out against any other nations, particularly those in the Middle East, who commit barbaric acts against their own citizens?
Yet the mayor’s belief, rooted in misinformation and false equivalency, has caused many Jewish New Yorkers fear and consternation that Mamdani would not be there to support them in good times and bad, and protect them in the face of rising antisemitism.
Mamdani, in particular, ignores the facts about the state of Israel — that it was founded as a Jewish state in the wake of the Holocaust to establish a safe haven for Jews across the world at a time when none existed.
It was recognized by the United Nations at the time of its founding. Israel is the Jewish ancestral homeland, with those ancestors living there being forced out prior to the founding of Islam and Christianity. The need to defend itself is based on the beliefs and conduct the mayor himself adheres to, which is that Israel does not have a right to exist.
From its beginning, Israel has had to fight war after war to stay alive. As the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir famously said, “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.”
Generations of New Yorkers have seen family and friends in Israel endure constant battle, even suffering and death. What does it say to them when the mayor of the city won’t celebrate their state’s right to exist as a Jewish state?
In light of Mamdani’s repeated insistence on this belief, his claim to be open to joining “many community events celebrating Jewish life in New York and the rich Jewish history and culture of our city” feels disingenuous.
We would suggest that Mayor Mamdani change his decision to skip the Israel Day parade and publicly embrace the parade as a celebration of Jewish culture, Jewish people and a Jewish homeland. If Jewish New Yorkers are important to Mamdani, then he will find a way to make amends – and fast.
But at this point, we would also conclude that Mamdani may have burned his bridge with a majority of Jewish New Yorkers beyond repair. Actions speak louder than words, and in this case, inaction speaks even louder.