NYC Mayor Eric Adams is heading to Israel next week
Adams calls New York City the ‘Tel Aviv of America’
New York City Mayor Eric Adams marches in the Celebrate Israel parade on June 4, 2023. Adams will travel to Tel Aviv next week as protests against the judicial overhaul embroil the country. Photo by Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office
By Jacob Kornbluh August 17, 2023
New York City Mayor Eric Adams will travel to Israel on Monday on his first visit to the country since he took office.
The trip is sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York, in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, City Hall said. The mayor’s office said the purpose of the trip is to “learn about Israeli technology, and discuss combined efforts to combat antisemitism.”
In remarks to Jewish audiences, Adams often says he’s proud to be mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and calls New York City the “Tel Aviv of America.”
The 3-day trip will include meetings with Israeli political and business leaders in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. City Hall didn’t provide a detailed itinerary or say whether Adams would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has become a toxic personality for Democrats. Netanyahu has made it a priority to meet with New York City mayors and American governors in Jerusalem.
The progressive New York Jewish Agenda group urged Adams to meet with leaders of the protest movement against the judicial overhaul on his trip. “As the Mayor spends time learning about Israeli technological advancements and work to end antisemitism around the globe, so too should he engage with the pro-democracy movement that so many New Yorkers support,” Phylisa Wisdom, NYJA’s executive director said.
Adams met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog during the president’s July visit to the U.S. to New York and to D.C. to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress. In April, Adams attended an Israeli flag-raising ceremony in Lower Manhattan to mark the 75th anniversary of the U.S.-Israel alliance.
Adams, who attributed his victory to significant support from Orthodox voting blocs in the 2021 race for mayor, came under fire during the campaign for speaking out in support of Israel’s right to defend itself from terror rockets during the May 2021 flareup between Israel and Hamas in Gaza — deleting a tweet and re-publishing it an hour later. This prompted the largest Muslim-American voting bloc, Emgage, to remove his name from consideration for an endorsement, citing his failure to acknowledge the pain and suffering of Palestinians.
Adams last visited Israel as Brooklyn Borough President in 2016, leading a delegation of law enforcement officials focused on developing transatlantic partnerships in public safety and economic development. That trip, also sponsored by the JCRC, included a visit to the Sea of Galilee. Prior to that, he traveled to Israel in 2014.
“I love the people of Israel, the food, the culture, the dance, everything about Israel,” Adams told the Orthodox publication Hamodia in 2021. He added that he’s “going to try to find a plot of land so it can be my retirement place,” mentioning the Golan Heights as his preferred residence.
Adams planned a trip to Israel earlier this year, but it was delayed due to budget negotiations.
This post has been updated.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
