New York's mayor made history on Sunday by becoming the first to boycott the city's Israel Day parade since its launch in 1964, drawing sharp rebukes from pro-Israel quarters while winning praise from progressive activists and some prominent Democrats.
Zohran Mamdani cited his opposition to the Israeli government and its actions in Gaza, which he has characterized as genocide. "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," he told reporters, emphasizing that public safety would remain a priority with strong police presence at the event.
The parade became a flashpoint in the city's shifting political landscape when attendees included Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister and a prominent nationalist right-wing figure who has advocated for ethnic cleansing of Palestinian territories. It marked his first visit to the United States since March of the previous year, arriving just days after he acknowledged that the International Criminal Court was seeking an arrest warrant against him.
Mamdani's absence stood in stark contrast to the prominent Democratic establishment figures who marched, including U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, Representatives Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler, Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and former mayors Eric Adams and Michael Bloomberg. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch also participated, stating: "It is the mayor's decision not to march, and it is my decision to march proudly."
Progressive activists joined the mayor in sitting out the event. Brad Lander, a Jewish former New York comptroller running for Congress, stayed away alongside the advocacy groups Israelis For Peace and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. The latter group posted on social media that the parade, featuring politicians actively involved in what they called a genocide, could not represent authentic Jewish identity.
Ben Rhodes, who served as deputy national security adviser under Barack Obama, raised the contradiction on social media: "Why is it controversial for Zohran to skip a parade bc of his principles but not for Democratic politicians to march with a fascist bigot like Smotrich?"
Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, shot back in the Times of Israel, calling Mamdani's absence "an ideological assertion and a disgraceful one." The New York Post ran a front-page photograph of the mayor on a bicycle with the headline: "Cycle of hate. Zo snubs Israel parade, goes on bike ride instead."
The parade's timing amplified tensions in a city with America's largest Jewish population. Weeks earlier, New York's city hall had released a video commemorating the Nakba, the term Palestinians use for their displacement during Israel's 1948 founding. The video featured testimony from Inea Bushnaq, who described being forced from her home at age nine and living with a sense of permanent exile. Israel supporters condemned the official recognition as one-sided, arguing it ignored Jewish refugees and broader historical context.
Mamdani has emerged as perhaps the most visible elected official reflecting a significant shift in American public opinion. A Pew Research survey released in April found that six in 10 Americans view Israel unfavorably, a jump of seven percentage points from the prior year and nearly 20 points since 2022. The mayor maintains a strongly pro-Palestinian platform while asserting support for Israel's right to exist as a state guaranteeing equal rights. He has pledged to honor an International Criminal Court warrant by arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he visit the city.
Previous New York mayors had positioned themselves as steadfast Israel supporters and frequently traveled to the country. Mamdani's stance signals how dramatically the political ground has shifted in recent years.
Author James Rodriguez: "Schumer marching with Smotrich while the mayor stays home exposes the Democratic Party's real fracture on Israel, not whether to support it, but under what conditions and with whom."
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