Knesset speaker says Mamdani ‘fueling the flames of hatred’ with absence from NYC Israel Day Parade

By Sam Sokol 31 May 2026, 9:40 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, Negev, Galilee, and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana take part in the annual Israel Day Parade in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Noam Moskowitz/ Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, in New York City to march in the Israel Day Parade, slams Mayor Zohran Mamdani for boycotting the annual event, accusing him of “despicably fueling the flames of hatred in the city against Israel and its Jewish residents.”

“You will not intimidate us. The attempt to uproot our connection to this space through lies and violence will not succeed and will be met here and everywhere with a powerful, united Zionist fist,” Ohana (Likud) declares in a statement.

Ohana is part of a bipartisan delegation of 13 lawmakers from both the coalition and opposition, including MKs Afif Abed (Likud), Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid), and Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu). Also in attendance are Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism), as well as Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Negev, Galilee, and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Otzma Yehudit).

The Knesset, in a statement, says that Mamdani’s boycott of the parade led Ohana to increase the size of the Knesset delegation and attend personally in order to “express complete and uncompromising unity in Israel’s strength against its enemies at home and abroad.”

“I am coming to the Solidarity March in New York, as a member of the opposition, but first and foremost as a representative of the State of Israel. We have political debates, and sometimes deep disagreements, but we have a shared responsibility to the world to stand together, to strengthen the connection with Diaspora Jewry and to show that Israel is the national home of the entire Jewish people,” says Yesh Atid MK Meirav Ben Ari.

“It is precisely in times like these that our presence here is more important than ever. Especially when the mayor of New York decided not to march this year, unlike in previous years, we must convey an important message from here that support for Israel comes first.”