The Blogs: When the Mayor Refuses to March With the Jews

The mayor’s refusal to stand with Jewish New Yorkers at a highly visible public celebration carries symbolic meaning beyond policy disagreement. The Israel Day Parade is framed as an affirmation that the Jewish community belongs in the city and that connection to Israel is not something to hide. The argument that the boycott reflects support for Jewish safety and opposition to antisemitism is treated as insufficient because it avoids the core issue. The core issue is whether the mayor understands that Zionism is tied to Jewish identity, history, memory, and survival. A mayor who cannot grasp that is said to lack full understanding of the community he governs.

"The annual march up Fifth Avenue is not a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. It is not a referendum on this or that Israeli prime minister. It is not a vote on settlements, judicial reform, Gaza policy or any of the other issues over which Jews themselves argue passionately, loudly and often. It is, instead, a public affirmation that New York's Jewish community belongs in the heart of the city, and that its connection to Israel is not some embarrassing private hobby to be hidden from view."

"Mamdani and his defenders will no doubt say that he supports Jewish safety, opposes antisemitism and distinguishes between Jews and the policies of the Israeli government. That is the standard explanation now offered by many politicians whose hostility toward Israel makes large numbers of Jews understandably nervous. But that explanation does not answer the question. It avoids it."

"The question is not whether a mayor may criticize Israel. Of course he may. Israelis criticize Israel every day. American Jews criticize Israel every day. The Jewish people survived Pharaoh, Haman, Rome, exile and the comments section. We can survive disagreement. The question is whether the mayor of New York City understands that for much of the Jewish community, Zionism is not a foreign-policy preference. It is part of Jewish identity, Jewish history, Jewish memory and Jewish survival."

"A mayor who cannot grasp that cannot fully understand the Jewish community he governs. For decades, New York mayo"

Read at Timesofisrael