There was no love lost on Sunday for Zohran Mamdani, who became the first New York City mayor to skip the annual Israel Day Parade in more than 60 years.
Top Israeli leaders and Jewish American figures mingled among heavy security during the festivities and generally agreed it was better that the famously anti-Israel mayor stayed away.
"A great day, a great day, we don't need him," Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told the Washington Free Beacon while being whisked past a media scrum.
Before the main event, Amir Ohana, the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, held court with former New York City mayor Eric Adams and other VIPs at the William Ziegler House—a landmark mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
"This is an impressive show of strength and a clear, direct message to the local leadership that is despicably fueling the flames of hatred in the city against Israel and its Jewish residents. You will not intimidate us," a defiant Ohana told reporters at an impromptu press conference.
Ohana and Adams walked arm in arm down Fifth Avenue, with Adams receiving a jubilant welcome from parade-watchers, with many urging him to return to public office.
When the Free Beacon asked Israel's consul general to New York City, Ofir Akunis, whether he was upset that Mamdani was not marching, he responded with just one word: "No."
Rumors have been swirling that Akunis will soon be replaced by Caroline Glick, an Israeli-American aide to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has a significant following among the Jewish right in Israel and the United States, where she was born and educated.
Israel's finance minister Bezalel Smotrich proved so popular with parade goers that he lingered outside Ralph's Coffee at the corner of 72nd and Madison Avenue after finishing the march and taking selfies with well-wishers.
Smotrich, a right-wing member of the Israeli cabinet, said earlier this month that the International Criminal Court had issued a warrant for his arrest for his role in expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In the past, Mamdani has vowed to honor Netanyahu's own warrant from the ICC, whose jurisdiction is not recognized by the United States. Smotrich, however, was all smiles. Mamdani's Jewish police commissioner Jessica Tisch, who would be tasked with arresting Netanyahu, Smotrich, and other Israeli leaders targeted by the notoriously anti-Israel ICC, also marched in the parade and was spotted alongside former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"I'm glad he's not here. He's the last person who should be at this parade. He hates the Jewish people," Sid Rosenberg, a popular city radio host who has sparred with Mamdani, told the Free Beacon.
"He hates us. I hate him."
Rosenberg said he was "considering" a run for mayor against Mamdani in 2029 if Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman defeats Gov. Kathy Hochul in the Empire State's gubernatorial election this year.
"If Bruce Blakeman wins as the governor, I'll probably run, yes," Rosenberg said.
Though Mamdani stayed away, many of the city's Democratic grandees were out in force. Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York attorney general Letitia James, City Council speaker Julie Menin, and Rep. Dan Goldman all wore sashes reading "honorary grand marshal."
"I'm not doing any interviews," an annoyed Goldman told an agitator who pestered him with false claims of Israel committing "genocide" in Gaza. Goldman is facing a tough primary challenge from former city comptroller Brad Lander, a close Mamdani ally and fierce critic of Israel, who stayed far away from the parade.
The closest Mamdani got to the march was a cardboard cutout of himself holding an Israeli flag, for which former Real Housewives star Lizzy Savetsky said she paid $400. A similar cutout of New York's fiercely anti-Israel, N-word-using first lady Rama Duwaji—holding an Israeli flag—was also on hand.
"I did this because I think that we need to take back our city and fight back with humor," Savetsky told the Free Beacon. "I have the ability to fight back with my words, my First Amendment right against Mamdani and I will do it every chance I get."
Savetsky said the Mamdani cutout was happily trashed after the event.
Assemblymen Alex Bores and Micah Lasher were both out glad-handing. Both men, who are largely supportive of Israel, are competing in a ferocious Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler for a district that has a large Jewish population. A third contender for the seat, Jack Schlossberg—whose shifting positions on Israel have mirrored his chaotic campaign—skipped the parade, telling the Free Beacon he was in Boston to present the Profiles in Courage Award at the John F. Kennedy Library that evening. Schlossberg, a grandson of the former president Kennedy, said he would have attended the parade had he been in New York City.
While Jewish gatherings in New York City have been increasingly marred by supporters of Palestinian violence, an overwhelming police presence ensured that the parade went forward without incident.
