Tens of thousands of people marched to support the Jewish state in the annual Israel Day on Fifth Parade in Manhattan on Sunday.
Rabbi Mark Landsman, principal of Yeshiva of Central Queens, told JNS that the school is “incredibly proud to support Israel, and we’re not going to let anything stand in our way.”
The yeshiva “has numerous graduates currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces, proudly defending and protecting our people,” the rabbi told JNS at the parade, which is organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
“We only have one homeland, and it’s our responsibility to keep it safe and secure,” he said. “By coming together here today, we’re showing the world that we have one home, and we will do everything we can to protect it from harm.”
Emma Gurvichkin, of Queens, chief operating officer of Golden Land Group, told JNS that “it’s important for me to march, especially after Oct. 7” and after Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City.
“Israel’s under a lot of fire, and it’s important to celebrate,” she said.
Mamdani, who has said that he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in New York City and whose spokeswoman said that synagogues violate international law when they host pro-Israel events, skipped the parade. His predecessors have taken part in the parade for six decades.
“I feel personally attacked as a New Yorker and as a Jew,” Gurvichkin told JNS. “He’s dividing us, and it’s disrespectful.”
Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, took part in the parade, as did New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Police Department commissioner Jessica Tisch, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Israeli Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) amd Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Eric Dinowitz, a member of the City Council who is chair of its Jewish Caucus and co-chair of its bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred.
Former city mayors Mike Bloomberg and Eric Adams also marched at the parade.
“Today we march in defiance and also to stand up for the values that define New York State since its very beginning,” Hochul said at the parade. “We will always be that bastion, that beacon of hope for others to be able to live the way they want to live and practice their religious belief freely from harassment.”
“That is why just one hour ago, I was proud to stand with our leaders from JCRC and UJA and other organizations to literally sign the ‘buffer bill,’ the first ever in the state of New York that says when you go to worship with your families, you should not have to endure harassment, intimidation or hatred from anyone,” Hochul said.
A veto-proof majority of the New York City Council passed a bill calling on the NYPD to come up with a plan for buffer zones free of obstruction around houses of worship, but Mamdani vetoed an almost identical bill, which the council passed without a veto-proof majority, about religious educational institutions.
The state law creates 50-foot buffer zones around religious institutions.
“We’re going to stand up and make sure that you’re protected on our streets and in our subways and in our schools and our community centers, because this is who we are,” Hochul said at the parade.
Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, was one of dozens of envoys to the global body, diplomats and foreign representatives to take part in the parade, according to the Israeli mission to the United Nations.
“It is exciting to march today in the annual Israel march in New York alongside U.N. ambassadors, leaders of the Jewish community and tens of thousands of Israel supporters,” Danon said.
“The impressive presence of friends of Israel from all over the world is proof that even in complex times, Israel does not stand alone,” he said. “Thank you to everyone who came to stand by Israel with pride and determination.”
“Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise,” she said. “We stand up for each other. We are allies with one another, and hate against one is hate against all.”
Shira Schwartz, a recent Baruch College graduate from Forest Hills, showed her support for the Jewish state from the sidelines.
“I’ve gone my whole life, and I think it’s important to attend to not only show support for Israel but to show resilience especially in this time,” she told JNS. “I think it’s also important to attend for cultural reasons. Every culture and nation has something, so it’s important we have ours too.”
Schwartz attended for a “test of character.”
“There’s something to say about the numbers of attendees,” she told JNS. “It shows that people care and aren’t afraid.”
The recent graduate was glad that the mayor played hooky.
“He was probably afraid, because people wouldn’t praise him, which is what he really wants,” she told JNS. “I think it’s pathetic that he says, with a smile on his face, that he won’t attend.”
Mamdani’s decision to skip “implies he’s not in support of the Jewish people, which is low, as he’s a person of power who claims to be accepting of all faiths and beliefs,” she said.
An attendee, who declined to be named, told JNS that it was important for him to show up “especially given the increasing antisemetic views in the city.”
“It’s important that political organizations know that support for Israel and standing up against antisemitism are issues that hundreds of thousands of people agree with,” the attendee said.
“It’s not surprising,” he told JNS about Mamdani skipping the parade. “It’s consistent with his other views and rhetoric regarding Israel and those who support it, and by extension the Jewish people.”
