Thousands of people lined Fifth Avenue on Sunday for New York City’s annual Israel Day Parade, celebrating Israeli culture and expressing support for Israel amid rising concerns about antisemitism and ongoing debate over the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
The event unfolded under what police officials described as an unprecedented security operation.<\/p>\n
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who served as the parade’s honorary grand marshal, said the NYPD implemented “the most extensive security plan that the NYPD has ever put together” for the annual event as antisemitic attacks continue to rise across the city.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Thousands of people marched up Fifth Avenue Sunday during New York City’s annual Israel Day Parade
\n
The NYPD implemented what Commissioner Jessica Tisch called its most extensive security plan ever for the event amid rising antisemitic attacks
\n
Gov. Kathy Hochul and several state and city officials attended, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani skipped the parade because of his criticism of the Israeli government and the war in Gaza
\n
Some attendees criticized the mayor’s absence, while others said the event was ultimately about promoting unity and peace<\/p>\n
“It’s good to see the security. It’s also worrying that it has to be so much security,” said parade attendee James Dichi.<\/p>\n
Others said the visible police presence helped them feel safer.<\/p>\n
“We do appreciate the NYPD, all they do for us to make sure we can represent ourselves in our own city where we should feel safe,” said Benjamin Helwa of Staten Island.<\/p>\n
As the parade got underway, Gov. Kathy Hochul used the event to deliver a message against hate and discrimination.<\/p>\n
“We’re going to stand up and make sure you’re protected on our streets and in our subways and in our schools and in our community centers because this is who we are, my friends,” Hochul said. “Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. We stand up for each other. We are allies with one another, and hate against one is hate against another.”<\/p>\n
Several elected officials marched in the parade, including New York City’s first Jewish City Council speaker, Julie Menin, Attorney General Letitia James and City Comptroller Mark Levine.<\/p>\n
One notable absence was Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Since 1965, New York City mayors have traditionally participated in the Israel Day Parade, but Mamdani chose not to attend because of his criticism of the Israeli government and its conduct of the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
“I said on the campaign trail I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said earlier this week. “And I also said on that same campaign that I would have a responsibility as the mayor of the city to ensure the safety and security of each and every New Yorker.”<\/p>\n
The mayor’s decision drew criticism from some parade participants.<\/p>\n
“I think as mayor there are certain things that you’re supposed to put aside, and for him not showing up it’s very embarrassing,” Helwa said. “If he does have issues with overseas policies with Israel, that doesn’t represent how he’s treating us here in New York. I think he should stand for the New Yorkers, the Jewish New Yorkers.”<\/p>\n
Despite the political divisions surrounding the event, many attendees said they hoped the parade would serve as a reminder of the importance of unity and understanding.<\/p>\n
“We should spread love instead of hate because everyone has a place in this world,” Dichi said. “If we all share this message of love, I think we can all come together and have a beautiful world.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of people lined Fifth Avenue on Sunday for New York City’s annual Israel Day Parade, celebrating Israeli…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[18936,5478,3764,37,11496,8982,42,46139,677,5473],"class_list":["post-140159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-app-human-interest","tag-app-top-stories","tag-human-interest","tag-israel","tag-manhattan","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-olivia-leach","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116674407274615496","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}