{"id":249939,"date":"2026-05-31T20:04:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T20:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/249939\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T20:04:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T20:04:31","slug":"despite-mamdanis-absence-new-york-democrats-show-support-for-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/249939\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Mamdani’s absence, New York Democrats show support for Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of Jewish leaders and New York politicians gathered early Sunday morning ahead of the annual Israel Day Parade<\/a> to voice their support for the Jewish state, even as anti-Israel rhetoric has proliferated in elections across the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI stand before you as a proud Jew and a proud Zionist, and those of us who feel that way can never waver,\u201d Rep. Dan Goldman, who is trailing primary challenger Brad Lander in the polls, said to a chorus of cheers. \u201cIt should not be momentous to say that, but unfortunately, in many ways, today it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual pre-parade Met Council breakfast included a demonstration by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul of state power that will better defend Jewish institutions from anti-Israel protests that critics say have at times veered into antisemitism.<\/p>\n

Sitting on stage at a desk flanked by a host of New York elected officials and Jewish nonprofit leaders, Hochul signed a statewide law establishing a 50-foot security \u201cbuffer zone\u201d around houses of worship. The legislation is more expansive than a city-level law insulating houses of worship from protests that was passed without New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s signature and was watered down after he expressed concerns about the bill.<\/p>\n

Mamdani declined to participate<\/a> in Sunday\u2019s parade.<\/p>\n

\"JCRCJCRC New York CEO Mark Treyger, UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric Goldstein, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Gov. Kathy Hochul and other New York politicians march in the annual Israel Day Parade on May 31, 2026. (credit: Grace Gilson\/JTA)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not just march today in an act of defiance against those who say we have no right, we\u2019ll also sign legislation that says no, we have the power, we have leaders in government who can make changes happen,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n

‘Antisemitism will not be tolerated in the state of New York’<\/p>\n

Hochul, who is running for reelection, was not the only non-Jewish politician to join the pre-parade event hosted by the Met Council, a Jewish-run antipoverty nonprofit. Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, both of whom are also running for reelection, spoke at the event.<\/p>\n

James vowed that \u201cantisemitism will not be tolerated in the state of New York as long as I am the attorney general.\u201d She added, \u201cIt is not just the responsibility of the Jewish community to respond, it requires all of us to respond. To stand shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm with the Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawler took aim at antisemitism on the political left and right during his remarks, calling out Tucker Carlson<\/a>, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens and Hasan Piker<\/a> by name.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is imperative, as elected officials, and there are a lot of elected officials in the room today, not just to be here, not just to say that we support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, not just to speak out against antisemitism, but to root it out, to root it out by exposing the people in our own parties,\u201d Lawler said.<\/p>\n

Eric Goldstein, the outgoing CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York, thanked the public officials who showed up for joining in the Israel parade. He stressed, \u201cWe need to be open and public at this apolitical gathering to show our love for the one and only Jewish homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s refusal to participate, in contrast, has drawn condemnation from many Jewish leaders. Goldstein issued a scathing condemnation on Friday, writing in an open letter that the mayor\u2019s absence is \u201csimply the latest in a pattern of demonizing anti-Israel rhetoric and actions that continue to place the Jewish community of New York at greater risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Mayor, you cannot close your eyes to the deadly impact of this incendiary rhetoric that is playing out in Jewish communities across the world, from Bondi Beach to Boulder to Washington, D.C.,\u201d Goldstein wrote.<\/p>\n

Those who did choose to come<\/p>\n

Later Sunday morning, the organizer of the parade said that what really counted was those who did choose to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s give it up for all of our allies and supporters who are here, because that\u2019s what matters, those who actually do show up,\u201d Mark Treyger, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, which organizes the parade, told the crowd as Jewish leaders and politicians gathered on a podium overlooking the parade route on Fifth Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe march because of our unwavering, unflinching connection to the Jewish State of Israel,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also gave remarks from the podium before politicians including Hochul, James and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin began marching down Fifth Ave to speakers blaring Israeli music.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jewish people have yearned for a state of Israel, whilst experiencing the constant anxiety of knowing the place where they live could violently expel them at any moment, as happened again and again,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cWe cannot, we must not go back to that era. I believe in the State of Israel. I support the State of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of Jewish leaders and New York politicians gathered early Sunday morning ahead of the annual Israel Day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12319,9,24,55,54,56,82],"class_list":["post-249939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-anti-israel","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}