New York Mayor Eric Adams set for 3-day visit to Israel next week
Adams, who has strong ties to NY Jewish community, will meet politicians and business leaders, discuss efforts to tackle antisemitism and learn about Israeli tech
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is slated to visit Israel next week, his office said Thursday.
Adams, a Democrat, is slated to arrive in Israel on Monday and return to New York on Thursday.
His office said the mayor will meet with politicians and business leaders, “discuss combined efforts to combat antisemitism” and learn about Israel’s technological advancements during the three-day visit.
The office did not release a detailed itinerary, and it is unclear if he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister has met with visiting US politicians this year, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in April.
Netanyahu is largely unpopular with Democrats due in part to strains that began between him and Barack Obama’s administration, and his perceived alignment with the Republican Party.
His image has taken a further hit since the establishment of his hardline government late last year, which has butted heads with US President Joe Biden’s administration over its efforts to overhaul the judiciary as well as its policies toward the Palestinians.
Adams and New York’s Democratic leadership remain strongly supportive of Israel and the region’s Jewish community, a solidarity that was on display during June’s Celebrate Israel Parade, a major annual event in Manhattan. The parade was attended by Adams and other state and city leaders, and members of Netanyahu’s coalition, but the two groups did not mix during the event.
.@NYCMayor Eric Adams meets with Israeli President @Isaac_Herzog at City Hall on Thursday, July 20, 2023. Following, the mayor, President Herzog, and @NYPDPC Edward Caban toured the Joint Operations Center (JOC) at NYPD Headquarters. Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office pic.twitter.com/l7cD9iMjk5
— Benny Polatseck (@BPolatseck) July 21, 2023
Adams’s office said that the trip is being sponsored by the UJA-Federation of New York, together with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
With over one million Jews, New York City is home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel. Adams has called the city the “Tel Aviv of America” and expressed pride in representing the city’s Jews.
The mayor has strong ties to New York City’s Jewish communities stretching back to his tenure as a state senator from Brooklyn and Brooklyn borough president, and some of his top staffers are Jewish.
Adams met President Isaac Herzog in New York in July when the president was in the US for his speech to Congress.
The progressive New York Jewish Agenda organization urged Adams to take time to speak to anti-judicial overhaul protest leaders while in Israel.
“The New York Jewish community overwhelmingly supports a Jewish, Democratic Israel and a two-state solution — both of which are under threat at this moment. We urge [Adams] to meet with pro-democracy leaders, and accurately represent our city’s pluralistic Jewish communities,” the group said.
Adams has visited Israel in the past, but this week’s trip will mark his first since becoming mayor last year.
