Gilad Shalit met New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at City Hall for a brief ceremony on the sixth anniversary of the day Shalit was captured by Hamas.

During Tuesday’s ceremony, which also featured City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Bloomberg showed Shalit an iPad photo of himself with Shalit’s parents, Aviva and Noam, and presented the former Israeli soldier with a crystal apple donated by Tiffany’s, according to The New York Times.

Bloomberg and Quinn actively pushed for Shalit’s release from captivity. In 2009, Bloomberg marched with Shalit’s parents during the Salute to Israel parade in New York and also sported a button demanding his freedom.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

In 2011 Quinn, along with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, declared Sept. 7 to be Gilad Shalit Day and presented Shalit’s father with a collection of tens of thousands of messages of support that were submitted by people from the United States and around the world, reported Israel Politik, the political blog of the State of Israel.

Shalit, who is now a sportswriter for the daily Yediot Achronot newspaper in Israel, was in the United States this month covering the NBA championship series and was in New York for a brief trip on his way to the Euro 12 soccer championships being held in Poland and Ukraine.

A message from our Publisher & CEO 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 so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount