Tens of thousands are set to march along Fifth Avenue today for the Israel Day Parade, the biggest show of support for Israel beyond the Jewish state itself. For 61 consecutive years, every New York City mayor in office has taken part.

Zohran Mamdani has decided against joining.

His police commissioner Jessica Tisch will lead as grand marshal while the city rolls out complete security measures. The mayor ensures protection for the event yet refuses to appear in person. This gap reveals much about his view of those participating.

The decision fits a longer record. Mamdani supports the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign, identifies as anti-Zionist, and assumed office in January.

Right away he ended two prior directives: one barring city offices from boycotting Israel and another adopting the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.

Israel's Foreign Ministry described the action as antisemitic fuel on an already burning situation. That assessment held weight.

Consistent anti-Israel steps as antisemitism climbs

The full pattern matters more than any one choice. Mamdani avoids calling Israel a Jewish state. He passed on Israel's Independence Day observance. He is also skipping the parade. Meanwhile antisemitic incidents in New York jumped 183 percent in January alone, with 31 attacks on Jews compared to 11 the prior year.

The city's leader has removed safeguards put in place by his predecessor exactly when threats to Jewish residents are growing.

Mamdani claims he can reject Israel while still supporting the city's Jewish population. Major Jewish groups disagree. The UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council both stayed away from his Jewish Heritage Month gathering.

When leading Jewish organizations skip a mayor's pre-Shavuot event, claims of valuing Jewish New Yorkers lose credibility.

The situation has created divisions even among Israeli officials. World Zionist Organization chairman Yaakov Hagoel asked Mamdani to march alongside him and thousands of Jews in support of the people and State of Israel.

Hagoel had earlier sent a letter on Holocaust Remembrance Day without receiving any reply. Consul General Ofir Akunis rejected the invitation, noting Hagoel lacked authority to extend it to someone who will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The two differed on approach yet shared the same reading of what the mayor's absence would communicate.

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik of the New York Board of Rabbis noted simply that the event is a Jewish people parade rather than a policy event. Rabbi Marc Schneier stated more directly that the mayor is not wanted and should avoid spoiling the day with his words.

Mamdani has decided. New York Jews should take him at his word.

He continues separating Jewish culture from Jewish statehood and the Jewish people from their right to a sovereign homeland.

That separation cannot stand because it is false. One cannot celebrate Jewish peoplehood while labeling its national form as disgraceful. A mayor who declines to appear with Jewish constituents on their most visible day of pride, solely to avoid any connection to Israel, has shown exactly where he stands.

Assemblyman Michael Novakhov observed that the mayor prefers to satisfy extremists rather than align with Jewish New Yorkers.

The evidence backs this view. Safeguards removed on day one. A Holocaust Remembrance Day letter left unanswered. Independence Day ignored. And now, for the first time in 61 years, an empty spot on Fifth Avenue where the mayor belongs.

No city outside Israel contains more Jewish residents than New York. They vote, contribute taxes, create organizations, raise families, and will march today carrying flags and pride.

They merit a mayor who walks alongside them instead of one who dispatches the police commissioner and labels it leadership. Mamdani had six decades of tradition and one morning to stand correctly. He selected the vacant seat.