NYC Mayor Declines to Attend Israel Day Parade, Highlights Palestinian Rights

Mon Jun 01 2026 17:35:35 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Mayor Zohran Mamdani was absent from the annual Israel Day parade, citing his pro‑Palestinian stance and sharing a Nakba video—an omission that has drawn ire from Jewish leaders and raised questions about anti‑Semitic sentiments.

In a turn of events that picked up global attention, New York City’s first Muslim mayor opted out of the iconic Israel Day parade. He released a video commemorating the Nakba, reaffirmed a right‑to‑exist stance for Israel, and promised a safe celebration for all participants. The bittersweet statement incited sharp criticism from Jewish community figures and supporters of Israel, who argue the video omitted context about Jewish displacement and the Holocaust.

NEW YORK (AP) – New York’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, announced that he would not attend the annual parade that commemorates the founding of Israel. The decision broke a decades‑long tradition in which every mayor and governor has shown up in support of the Jewish state.

The parade – often simply called “Israel Day” – takes place each year on Fifth Avenue where crowds of flag‑waving revelers celebrate the 1948 birth of Israel. Mayor Mamdani’s office released a video two weeks ago that honored the Nakba, the Arabic term for “catastrophe” that describes the displacement of roughly 700,000 Palestinians in the conflict 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 in a news conference Thursday. “While I will not be attending, our administration has been preparing for weeks to ensure the parade is safe for all those who take part.”

A spokesperson also pledged a robust police presence to keep the streets peaceful.

The mayor’s absence sparked criticism from Jewish leaders. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch—who is Jewish—said she would attend and that “it is the mayor’s decision not to march, and it is my decision to march proudly.”

Rabbi Marc Schneier, senior rabbi of the Hampton Synagogue on Long Island, described the mayor’s decision as “a slap in the face to all Jewish New Yorkers.” He also decried the Nakba video as “propaganda” and argued it omitted context about Jewish displacement and the Holocaust’s role in the creation of Israel.

The video, the first public acknowledgment of the Nakba from a sitting New York mayor, features a woman named Inea Bushnaq who recounts being displaced at nine years old and speaks about missing home—“the soft hills of Palestine,” she said. The story interspersed with text about the Nakba.

Supporters of Israel have taken issue with the omission of Jewish suffering—such as the mass exile of Jews from Muslim‑majority countries in the 1950s and the Holocaust’s influence on the push for a Jewish state. They see the video’s focus solely on Palestinian displacement as a one‑sided narrative.

Mamdani, while insisting that Israel has a right to exist, stresses that it should not have a hierarchy that favors Jewish citizens. He has also pledged to protect Jewish New Yorkers and highlighted work by the city’s Office to Combat Antisemitism.

The decision has highlighted broader tensions: support for Israel among Americans has fallen sharply in recent years, particularly after criticism of the Gaza war. The mayor’s stance underscores the growing debate over how to balance solidarity with both communities while addressing historic grievances on both sides.