Increased security measures at the Celebrate Israel Parade last Sunday did not deter participants from marching with numerous organizations, schools, and synagogues on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.
“I’ve been in the parade since I was a kid growing up in North Bellmore. It’s become more popular now. When I was a kid, the entire grade went,” said Jeff Boriskin, who took the Long Island Railroad to the event. When asked whether he would participate if his children’s school was not involved, the father of three replied positively. “I would still go. Definitely. Pre-kids we also went.”
In the minds of participants, it has been 590 days since Hamas carried out a massacre at a music festival while attacking kibbutzim and military bases. Fifty-eight hostages, living and dead remain in Gaza. Locally, the mayoral race resonated at the parade as crowds welcomed candidates who carried the blue and white flag, with frontrunner Andrew Cuomo given the loudest cheers.
Incumbent mayor Eric Adams, Scott Stringer, Whitney Tilson, and Curtis Sliwa, also waved to the crowds, while fellow candidates Brad Lander and Adrienne Adams attended the Met Council pre-parade breakfast. Ahead of the parade, Zohran Mamdani affirmed Israel’s “right to exit,” but in a recent questionnaire, he refused to visit the country should he be elected and has not apologized for smearing Israel’s anti-terrorism operation as a “genocide.”
Israeli Consul General Ofir Akunis, Jewish Community Relations Council CEO Mark Treyger, and UJA Federation of New York CEO Eric S. Goldstein, joined the state delegation that included Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli at the start of the march. “The American public knows how to distinguish between allies and enemies. Support for Israel is far greater than what is often reflected in the media,” he said.
Queens-elected officials marching with this delegation included Borough President Donovan Richards, Reps. Greg Meeks and Grace Meng, and Assembly Members Nily Rozic, David Weprin, Ed Braunstein, and Jenifer Rajkumar. They’ve all faced opposition for their support of Israel, which involved protests outside their offices and threats on social media.
Six former hostages were treated as heroes as they waved to the crowds, along with expressions of support for family members of those still in captivity.
“I cannot stress the suffering, day to day, and I think about the remaining 58 hostages who are still there, four of whom I know personally, and I spent time with them in captivity.” Keith Siegel said to reporters at the start of the parade.
He was joined by his wife Aviva, Andrey Kozlov, Ilana Gritzewsky, Eliya Cohen, and Doron Steinbrecher, sharing their responsibility for those still held by Hamas.
“We are doing whatever we can to get them home,” he said. During their stay in New York, the former hostages are sharing their talents with the public. The Siegels shared their pancake recipe at an Israeli popup shop in SoHo benefiting Hostage Families Forum, while Kozlov will have an exhibit of his paintings next month in Chelsea.
Among the memorable displays was the Torah Mates contingent of the Oorah organization, which rented an English double-decker bus, two camels and men dressed in the costumes of oversized inflatable bears.
The Lakewood-based outreach organization tossed business cards at the crowd, encouraging them to call the learning by phone program. “Oorah reaches 220 schools with nearly 14,000 served by Torah Mates,” said Rabbi Yonah Lazar, the organization’s Executive School Liaison.
Many spectators were asking whether the camels were real, which was demonstrated by two uniformed sanitation workers who marched behind them. The animals represented mascots of The Zone summer camps operated by Oorah.
Wearing the shirts of the collective Long Island delegation composed of synagogues and organizations, Dina and Josh Bernstein of Lawrence, took in the sights and sounds.
“We’ve been marching since we were 23 and it is with greater intensity now,” Mr. Bernstein, 85, said.
In contrast to prior parades, opponents of Israel were kept far from the route, which was lined with police checkpoints with spectators allowed only on the east side of Fifth Avenue. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch marched with the Shomrim Society, which represents Jewish members of the city’s police.
Among those honored by spectators were faculty and students of local universities, who are on the front line of the struggle against antisemitism on campuses. “It shows our Jewish pride,” said Adelphi sophomore Elad Litvin, who marched with Students Supporting Israel alongside peers from New York University and Columbia University. “The Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at my college was suspended and we have an active Chabad on campus,” he said.
Elan Kornblum viewed the parade from atop the float representing Great Kosher Restaurants Media and its sponsors, noting his life’s journey on Fifth Avenue.
“I’ve been a part of the parade for the last 35 years. Starting as a kid marching with the Yeshivah of Flatbush, then for years driving with a golf cart giving out my magazines, then coordinating the food for the broadcast team, and most recently a float sponsor the last several years,” he said. “We may be thousands of miles away, but we are thinking of them, we are cheering them on, and we will celebrate any time we can.”
Sergey Kadinsky