New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is shunning Sunday’s annual parade honoring Israel, breaking with a decades-long political tradition because of his fealty to the Jewish state’s sworn opponents.
The parade, called Israel Day on Fifth, sees Jewish groups descend on Manhattan’s iconic Fifth Avenue in a cornerstone display by the area’s Jewish community, drawing in participants from around the city and the region.
AP reports the Israel Day parade has always been a must-attend event for mayors, governors and other political leaders eager to embrace the throngs of flag-waving revelers who congregate on Fifth Avenue to celebrate Israel’s birth in 1948.
Not anymore it seems.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is shunning Israel Day on Fifth but saw fit to participate in Islam’s Eid al-Adha prayers and deliver remarks at Yancey Track and Field at Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx, New York City, United States, on May 27, 2026. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Mamdani is a longtime supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement which bars any “normalization” with the country.
Two weeks ago the mayor’s office released a video commemorating the Nakba, an Arabic word for “catastrophe” that is used to describe the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel’s establishment.
“I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said at a news conference Thursday.
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The AP report notes, Rabbi Marc Schneier, founding senior rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue on Long Island and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which advocates for better relationships between Jews and Muslims, called Mamdani’s decision to not attend the parade “a slap in the face to all Jewish New Yorkers.”
Others such as former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett added their voice. He called Mamdani’s decision to just not show up “cowardly.”
Mayors in New York City, which has America’s largest Jewish population, have long been visible supporters of Israel, often visiting the country.
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