Far Right Israeli Leaders Join New York Democrats in NYC’s Israel Day Parade

On Sunday, thousands attended New York City’s annual Israel Day Parade, including New York politicians and far right members of the Israeli government. The theme of this year’s parade was “Proud Americans, Proud Zionists.”

The parade comes as the U.S. and Israel wage a joint war on Iran and following more than two years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not attend the event, making him likely the first New York City mayor to skip the parade since it was founded in 1965.

“I have made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said at a news conference on Thursday. Later in his remarks, he announced that it would be the most heavily policed Israel Day parade yet.

The parade was attended by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. In the lead-up to the event, Tisch described the parade as “one of the most joyful days of the year.”

Also participating in the parade were State Attorney General Letitia James and former New York City mayors Michael Bloomberg and Eric Adams. As mayor, Adams – who has visited Israel multiple times and spoken of an “unbreakable bond” between New York City and Israel — signed an executive order prohibiting city agencies from boycotting or divesting from Israel, or participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This was revoked by Mamdani in January 2026.

There was also a “record-size delegation of Knesset [Israeli parliament] members” taking part in the parade, according to Haaretz. These included Israel’s far right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, as well as members of far right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s ultranationalist political party, Otzma Yehudit — which translates to “Jewish Strength” or “Jewish Power.” Also present were members of the Likud, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing political party.

Smotrich has called for Israel to annex both Gaza and the West Bank. He has described Gaza as a potential real estate “bonanza,” and proclaimed that he wants to divide Gaza’s land and share it with the U.S., citing the U.S.’s assistance throughout the genocide. In 2024, Smotrich complained that “No one in the world will allow us to starve two million people, even though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages.” In other instances, Smotrich said that freeing the hostages was “not the most important thing” and that it was more important to “eliminate the Gaza problem.” He has also declared that victory for Israel means “Gaza will be totally destroyed.”

At the parade, Smotrich said that the event “reminds me of the Jerusalem Day Flag March” — that is, an ultranationalist event celebrating the illegal occupation of Jerusalem in 1967 that is marked by attacks on Palestinians and calls of “Death to Arabs.”

Smotrich has been sanctioned for “inciting violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank by countries including the U.K., Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. Smotrich also announced earlier in May that the International Criminal Court at the Hague is planning to issue an arrest warrant against him, though that has not been confirmed.

The parade included floats of different Zionist organizations — including the Jewish National Fund, which played a central role in Israel’s “dispossession of Indigenous Palestinians and illegal colonization of Palestinian land” and advocated for the “transfer” of Palestinians even before the establishment of the state of Israel, according to the Institute for Middle East Understanding.

Also on display was the flag of the Golani Brigade, an Israeli military battalion that carried out a massacre of 15 Palestinian paramedics in Gaza in March 2025.