NEW YORK (VINnews) – Former New York City mayors Eric Adams and Michael Bloomberg attended the annual Israel Day Parade in Manhattan on Sunday, while current Mayor Zohran Mamdani stayed away from the event, a decision he had publicly announced during his campaign and reaffirmed in a radio interview Sunday.
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— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) May 31, 2026
Adams marched alongside Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who was attending the parade for the first time in his official capacity. Ohana said Mamdani’s absence marked the first time in the parade’s more than 60-year history that a sitting New York City mayor did not attend.
Speaking to Israel National News before the parade, Adams said his appearance alongside Ohana demonstrated solidarity with Israel and the Jewish community worldwide.
“We will stand together, we will fight together, and we will ensure that the entire globe knows that the people of America and New York respect and will stand with the people of Israel,” Adams said.
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Bloomberg, a longtime supporter of Israel, was also among those attending the parade.
It was not immediately clear whether former Mayor Bill de Blasio attended Sunday’s event. During his eight years as mayor, de Blasio regularly participated in the annual parade.
It was also not immediately clear whether former Mayor Rudy Giuliani attended. Giuliani, a staunch supporter of Israel and New York’s Jewish community, publicly criticized Mamdani in the days leading up to the parade over his decision not to attend. Giuliani has long maintained close ties with Jewish organizations and has frequently appeared at pro-Israel events both during and after his tenure as mayor.
This year’s parade also featured what organizers and participants described as the first Muslim contingent to march in the event’s history. The group was led by Muslim interfaith activist Anila Ali, founder of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, who said she attended to show solidarity with Israel and the Jewish community amid rising antisemitism.
Ali marched with several dozen Muslim supporters, including an imam and children, according to organizers. She said she had received threats and criticism ahead of the event but remained committed to participating.
I got to march with some incredible people today. @anilaali is such an inspiration about interfaith connection between Jews and Muslims. This was all organized by my friend Sheikh Musa Drammeh. @NYCMayor might be trying to divide us but these brave warriors are bringing us… pic.twitter.com/b63Vp1bl1v
— Moshe Spern (@moshespern) May 31, 2026
The appearance of the Muslim delegation was praised by Jewish community leaders as a sign of interfaith cooperation and unity. Mark Treyger, chief executive of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, said welcoming interfaith partners to the parade reflected the organization’s commitment to community bridge-building.
Asked Sunday by Black Information Network host Vanessa Tyler about criticism surrounding his decision not to attend, Mamdani said he had been transparent with voters throughout his campaign.
“I’ve been honest with New Yorkers about the fact that I would not attend this parade,” Mamdani said. “I’ve made my criticisms of the Israeli government quite clear.”
Cardboard cutouts of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and First Lady Rama Duwaji at the Israel Day Parade after they skipped the annual event pic.twitter.com/wkeC1yavMV
— Steven Vago (@Vagoish) May 31, 2026
Mamdani added that, despite his absence, ensuring the safety and security of parade participants remained a top priority for his administration and the New York Police Department.
Ohana said he led the largest delegation the Knesset has ever sent to the parade, including lawmakers from both Israel’s governing coalition and opposition, in a show of support for New York’s Jewish community.
The annual parade drew thousands of participants, elected officials, community leaders and supporters from across the region to celebrate Israel and express solidarity with the Jewish state.
Muslims For Israel – yes, they are out there! pic.twitter.com/hRXUV378Fp
— Yishai Fleisher يشاي ישי פליישר 🕎 (@YishaiFleisher) May 31, 2026
And this guy said he would be the mayor of all the people of NYC. He said a lot of things.
Unity among the Jewish people is a Torah obligation and the only way we merit divine protection.
Hatred among our people are the reason we are still in galus.
It’s a shame that our rabbinical leaders don’t say these things.
The black hat Jews and the knitted yarmulke Jews must march together to speed up the arrival of moshiach.
Interesting that you only seem concerned about one “to’eivah.” The Torah uses that term for many things, including dishonest business practices and false weights/measures (Devarim 25:13–16), charging interest in certain contexts (Yechezkel 18:13), and various forms of idolatry (Devarim 7:25–26, 17:2–4). Yet I don’t see you publicly denouncing every tax cheat, fraudster, or person engaging in financial improprieties.
If you’re worried about chillul Hashem, maybe start with the people who are actually giving observant Jews a bad name through dishonesty and corruption. Selective outrage isn’t a Torah value.
Okay, I genuinely love you and your passion, but apparently you don’t get it.
Let’s start with some examples.
Have you ever been to a chasunah where one of the people being honored had a questionable reputation? Did you get up and leave? Have you ever attended events where wealthy donors were celebrated despite public allegations, investigations, complaints, business misconduct, or other serious concerns? Do you boycott the schools, yeshivos, batei medrash, programs, scholarships, and even the coffee corners that were funded by people whose money may not have come from the most honorable sources?
If your concern is truly about standing up for kavod Shamayim, then where is the same passion, outrage, and energy when it comes to issues that affect countless people in real and tangible ways? Why is there such relentless focus on one issue while other serious problems are met with silence, excuses, or selective blindness?
The Yetzer Hara does not wear only one costume. Dishonesty, exploitation, lashon hara, machlokes, arrogance, financial wrongdoing, humiliation of others, and sinas Yisrael have caused enormous damage in our communities. If someone is genuinely motivated by concern for Hashem’s honor, then that concern should be applied consistently.
Instead, what I see is people screaming about one particular issue while ignoring others that are no less serious. That is not consistency. That is selective outrage.
And let’s be honest about something else. You keep claiming that you are standing up for kavod Shamayim, but what practical result do you think this public outrage is accomplishing? Are you changing minds? Are you bringing people closer to Torah? Are you creating greater understanding? Or are you simply creating more anger, more division, and more unnecessary sinah among Jews?
Many of the people involved are not evil people. There are good people there. There are sincere people there. There are also people who are misinformed, people who disagree with you, and people who see things differently. You may believe they are mistaken, but screaming at them has never been an effective method of persuasion.
Furthermore, these individuals are not being glorified by the parade. They sign up to participate, and provided they are not breaking the law and do not support terrorism, they are permitted to march. The organizers are not conducting theological examinations of every participant before allowing them to walk.
Muslims marched as well. If your objection is that people whose beliefs differ from yours should not be welcomed, then where is the outrage over that? If you oppose interfaith engagement, despite the fact that some Gedolim themselves participated in various forms of dialogue when they deemed it appropriate, why is that not receiving the same attention?
The inconsistency is impossible to ignore.
What troubles me most is that this entire conversation seems to be fueled more by emotion than by results. The louder the rhetoric becomes, the less likely anyone is to listen. The more people are attacked, the more entrenched they become. The more public condemnation there is, the more polarization grows.
If your goal is truly to increase kavod Shamayim, then ask yourself whether your approach is actually accomplishing that goal. Torah demands not only that we care about truth, but that we care about how truth is conveyed. We are responsible not only for what we say, but for the consequences of how we say it.
A person can be completely convinced that he is fighting for Heaven while simultaneously causing greater division among Jews. History has shown that this danger is very real.
We should be able to disagree strongly without turning every disagreement into a war. We should be able to stand for our principles without assuming that everyone who disagrees with us is acting maliciously. And we should be able to recognize that creating more ahavas Yisrael is often a far more effective way of bringing people closer to Torah than public outrage ever will be.
At the end of the day, if the response to every issue is outrage, then outrage loses its meaning. If the concern is truly kavod Shamayim, then apply that standard consistently across the board. If not, then perhaps it is worth examining whether this is really about principle, or whether it is simply about choosing one issue to fight while overlooking many others.
The toeva marchers showed up as well to add their chilul hashem
Maybe mamdami went to the Adirei Torah instead.
ALL of OUR daas Torah opposes this disgusting parade where menuvalim and women half dressed march, YU is not not nogea to us frum as they represent a brink fringe group called “modox” the Young Israel is movement is dead and average age is 80
The Talmidei Chachomim were in Philadelphia. That’s who I follow.
Yasher koach to sensible Muslim women.
When this comes its vital to remeber that many of our prior gedolim held of the state of israel and its founding. people don’t know this today especially charedim that many held of the state. It was a dispute and has a place in our torah. Who if you ask? All the rizyna rebas , most of the poylisha rebas (exlcuding gur who was agudah even though more to the left compared to hungary agudah. And r Levin was very much prat of the zionist delcaration of independnece and supproting it in the UN. But lets exclude them for arguments sake) We also had many R Kook supporters like r tzvi pesach frank and R isser zalman. Then w ehave R shraga fevel who made a bracha on the medina