Rabbi Avi Weiss said the small pro-Israel demonstration he led as Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City on Thursday sent a clear message: “We stand with Israel today, tomorrow and forever.”
“At the very moment Mayor Mamdani was publicly inaugurated, our message was unmistakably clear,” stated Weiss, the founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in the Bronx. “As you seek to undermine Israel as a Jewish state, our voices of moral conscience, of Jewish conscience, will continue to be peacefully raised wherever you go.”
Weiss led the protest alongside Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, the senior rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan, across the street from City Hall, near Pace University, as Mamdani formally assumed office.
Demonstrators waved American and Israeli flags and held signs that said, “Openly Zionist,” and “No Sharia law, not in our city.”
Ahead of the inauguration ceremony, Weiss wrote that Mamdani “has attacked Israel throughout his career,” adding that “a strong majority of New Yorkers, and the overwhelming majority of Jews, stand with Israel.”
According to a 2024 American Jewish Committee survey, 85% of American Jewish adults believe it is vital for the United States to support Israel in the aftermath of Oct. 7, and 57% of American Jews report feeling more connected to Israel or their Jewish identity after Oct. 7 than before.
