Thousands of supporters of Israel marched along Fifth Avenue on Sunday during a heavily policed Israel Day parade that took on a more somber tone this year as the war in Gaza enters its eighth month.
The normally jubilant event, which has been held annually since 1964, had fewer spectators in Midtown Manhattan than usual because of intense security. The parade — expected to draw 40,000 participants, all of whom needed credentials to march — has been previously called “Celebrate Israel.” This year, it was renamed “Israel Day on 5th” and focused on remembering the hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The event was mostly peaceful and drew very few protesters. Police barricades, chain-link fences and checkpoints limited access to the route.
New York has had roughly 3,000 demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war since October, according to Mayor Eric Adams, most of them pro-Palestinian, and hundreds of protesters have been arrested. No Palestinian flags were in evidence along the parade route on Sunday.
Still, moments of tension erupted between participants and politicians. At the start of the parade, the arrival of elected officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul; Letitia James, the attorney general of New York; and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, drew jeers from the crowd.
As Mr. Schumer began to speak, at least one person shouted “you betrayed us,” a reference to Mr. Schumer’s sharp criticism of the Israeli government in a Senate speech in March.
Mr. Schumer continued, saying, “Let us say that Hamas is evil and that we will defeat Hamas.”
Mayor Eric Adams, who attended the parade, also called for the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages. “Let’s bring peace so we don’t lose lives of innocent people,” he added.
Eric Goldstein, the chief executive officer of the UJA-Federation of New York, a philanthropic group that was one of the organizers of the event, said that the group recognizes “that there are many Jews in our community who have disagreements about what is the right way forward.”
But he added that the event was about putting aside those differences and “showing up proudly and publicly in support of a Jewish homeland.”
Israel faces enormous international criticism over its invasion of Gaza, which began in October after Hamas’s attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, which killed about 1,200 Israelis. Since the war began, over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed.
About 125 living and dead hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Noam Safir, 20, whose grandfather, Shlomo Mantzur, is one of the hostages, flew to New York from Israel to attend the parade.
Ms. Safir said “to be here is to shout, to cry their cries to represent” her grandfather and the other hostages.
“It’s very overwhelming to see the support,” she added.
At a news conference on Saturday evening, the police commissioner, Edward A. Caban, said law enforcement had not received any credible threats to the parade.
But the Islamic State had circulated anti-Israel propaganda online targeting the event, prompting law enforcement to put strict security measures in place, said Rebecca Weiner, the head of the intelligence bureau at the Police Department.
During the parade, police helicopters and drones whirred overhead as police dogs and hundreds of officers patrolled the area.
The parade remained peaceful through its end late Sunday afternoon. Along the route, hundreds of marchers waved Israel’s blue and white flag while others draped it over their shoulders.
In some areas, the crowd was so dense that people tripped over one another as they tried to navigate Fifth Avenue. Fliers stuck on lampposts featured photographs of the hostages and the words “kidnapped by Hamas.”
Still, as the event came to a close on the Upper East Side, there were signs of levity. Revelers began to dance in the street as those on parade floats sang the anthem “Am Yisrael Chai.”
The demonstrators were joined by several Israeli government officials despite a letter from Israeli activists living in New York who asked that they be barred from participating. Among those who attended were Israel Katz, the minister of foreign affairs, and Gilad Erdan, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, according to a spokesman for the Israeli consulate in New York.
Jewish pro-Palestinian groups did not appear to protest the parade, but a leading group, Jewish Voice for Peace, attacked the event in a statement, saying there was nothing to celebrate while the war raged. “The latest massacre of refugees in a designated safe zone in Rafah has made it abundantly clear that the United States government must immediately stop arming the Israeli military,” Jay Saper, an organizer for the group, said.
Lev Tsitrin, 59, who is from Belarus and now lives in Brooklyn, said he had attended several Israel Day parades. But this year, he said, “It felt incumbent on me to show my support.”
The war and the heightened security on Fifth Avenue was a stark contrast to past parades. “It’s usually more festive. It feels tense this year,” Mr. Tsitrin said, adding, “People are worked up because this is so serious. It is life and death.”
Olivia Bensimon contributed reporting.
Chelsia Rose Marcius, Maia Coleman and Erin Nolan
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