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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n Neither lawmaker had been expected at the parade and few participants were aware that they were present at the march.<\/p>\n Hochul is supportive of Israel and the Jewish community. She addressed a crowd at the start of the event on Sunday alongside other New York leaders and marched at the head of the parade.<\/p>\n \t New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who also backed the Jewish community in a speech at the parade, said, \u201cIslamophobia has no place in New York. I unequivocally condemn Bezalel Smotrich\u2019s hateful rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n Smotrich also opened another wedge in the race for New York\u2019s 10th Congressional District, covering lower Manhattan and part of Brooklyn.<\/p>\n Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is challenging incumbent US Representative Dan Goldman for the coveted seat. Lander and Goldman are both Jews who identify as Zionist and are critical of the Israeli government, but Lander is running to Goldman\u2019s left on Israel issues in the heated race.<\/p>\n The two candidates are largely aligned on many other issues, such as immigration and opposition to the Trump administration.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re both proud Jewish New Yorkers. But there are sharp and clear differences between us on Israel\/Palestine,\u201d Lander said in a statement. \u201cFor example, Dan Goldman marched alongside war criminal Bezalel Smotrich yesterday, who called it \u2018just and moral\u2019 to starve Gaza. I did not.\u201d<\/p>\n No Israelis have been convicted of war crimes.<\/p>\n \t Leftist Jewish groups also condemned<\/a> Smotrich\u2019s participation, including the progressive, Zionist New York Jewish Agenda, and the far-left Jews for Economic and Racial Justice, an ally of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n Mamdani said in a statement that Smotrich\u2019s \u201cpresence in our city is an affront to everything New York stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n The parade organizer, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, said ahead of the parade that it was unaware who would be marching from the Israeli government, and that the decision was up to the Israeli consulate in New York. The consulate did not immediately provide comment.<\/p>\n Smotrich also did not appear in the Knesset\u2019s statement<\/a> or video<\/a> about the delegation\u2019s participation in the parade.<\/p>\n The head of the JCRC-NY, Mark Treyger, said on Monday, \u201cWhile some individuals who attended were neither invited by JCRC-NY nor known to us in advance, participation in the parade is not an endorsement of any political figure or ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe reject rhetoric that dehumanizes others, fuels division, or diminishes the dignity of any human being,\u201d Treyger said, without naming Smotrich.<\/p>\n Smotrich and Eliyahu had not been anticipated at the event. The consulate\u2019s list of expected participants ahead of the parade did not include either lawmaker.<\/p>\n The Israeli delegation marched as its own group in the parade, and it did not appear that any New York elected officials marched with the far-right lawmakers or were aware of their presence during the event.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t She died more than four decades ago, but Leah Goldberg remains a magnetic and enigmatic figure: Israel\u2019s most beloved poet, a powerful woman who lived with her mother and never married, who reinvented herself from the ashes of World War I through her magical writing.<\/p>\n You can screen ‘The Five Houses of Leah Goldberg’ June 4-11.\u00a0 Join The Times of Israel Community today to support our work and watch this and other outstanding documentary films in our DocuNation series.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tNew York Governor Kathy Hochul, center, and New York City Speaker Julie Menin, right, at the Israel Day on Fifth parade in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20250804_untitled_03780-1024x640.jpg\")
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\n\t\tNew York City Comptroller Brad Lander speaks against Israel at a rally led by leftist Jews in New York City, August 4, 2025. (Luke Tress\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tDiscover Israel’s most beloved poet\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/The-5-Houses-of-Lea-Goldberg-Poster-1-200x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
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