Mon, June 1, 2026 at 12:07 AM UTC
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New York City Zohran Mamdani kept his campaign promise by skipping Sunday’s annual Israel Day parade, sparking accusations of antisemitism from Zionist figures as American support for the country continues to wane.
Mamdani is the city’s first mayor to not attend the parade in its 61-year history, saying Thursday that his views on the Israeli government are “abundantly clear” but that he will ensure there is robust security for the event to proceed “seamlessly and peacefully.” He has repeatedly pledged to protect Jewish New Yorkers and combat antisemitism.
Both U.S. and Israeli politicians attended the event on Fifth Avenue, including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Mamdani’s own police commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Pro-Israel groups like the Anti-Defamation League expressed disappointment at Mamdani’s decision not to attend what it described as “a Jewish celebration,” while progressive and anti-Zionist groups critiqued the parade as perpetuating the antisemitic dual-loyalty trope and supporting Israel’s military campaigns in several countries.
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“The very claim that the mayor has offended New York’s ‘Jewish community,’ as opposed to New York’s Israeli community, exposes the entire premise of the parade,” the group Voice of Rabbis said in a statement. “This is not merely a cultural celebration. It is a political statement – namely, that Jews are inherently tied to a foreign country: Israel.”
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