For many years, on the Friday before Israel Day on Fifth (formerly the Celebrate Israel Parade), I’ve written a message about why I march — and to make what I hope is a compelling case for why everyone should join me.

In less complicated times, the parade was about Fifth Avenue overflowing with floats, music, and Israeli flags — an apolitical tribute to a young nation’s extraordinary achievements in science, medicine, technology, the arts. The miracle of making a desert bloom.

Over the last two-plus years, the mood has shifted. We marched for the hostages, for the devastated communities of the south and north in Israel, for a country reeling from the trauma of October 7 and war.

And now the mood has shifted again. This time, we are also marching very much for ourselves — Jewish New Yorkers supporting a Jewish homeland, who feel increasingly targeted and isolated for what is a core piece of our identity.

Why so many feel this way should be painfully obvious, but it nonetheless must be plainly stated: You are the first mayor in the history of New York City — home to the largest Jewish diaspora community in the world — to refuse to participate in this parade because you fundamentally reject Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

To be clear, your refusal to participate this Sunday is not principally grounded in criticism of a particular Israeli government or policy, whether related to the current situation in Gaza, the West Bank, the 1967 borders, or any other matter that can and should be openly debated. Your refusal is rooted in your opposition to Israel’s very establishment as a Jewish and democratic state in 1948 — in a refusal to acknowledge the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland.

And your refusal to attend the parade is simply the latest in a pattern of demonizing anti-Israel rhetoric and actions that continue to place the Jewish community of New York at greater risk.

Just two weeks ago, you posted a video about Nakba Day — observed by the Palestinian community annually on May 15 to mark the day after Israel’s independence was declared in 1948 — presenting a grossly one-sided narrative. Israel is portrayed as a violent aggressor. There is no acknowledgment of the war launched in 1948 against the nascent Jewish state by five Arab neighbors. No mention of the Arab rejection of the UN partition plan that would have created two states side by side. And no recognition of the hundreds of thousands of Jews violently expelled from their homes in Arab countries in the very same period.

As if we needed another reminder of the real-world consequences of highly distorted narratives, on the very same day your video was posted, we learned that a planned attack by an Iraqi national targeting a New York City synagogue had been thwarted.

Mr. Mayor, you cannot close your eyes to the deadly impact of this incendiary rhetoric that is playing out in Jewish communities across the world, from Bondi Beach to Boulder to Washington, D.C. 

Nor should any of this suggest that we seek to silence debate and criticism about Israel.

In his New York Times column a week ago, Bret Stephens began by outlining many of the reasons people may oppose — or even “despise” — Israel’s current government. He then makes the distinction between that criticism and what crosses the line:

“It’s a hyperbolic and often conspiratorial hatred of the country... It’s a conviction that Israel, alone among the nations, was a mistake to begin with and has no right to exist now.”

This is our current reality.

Mr. Mayor, for hundreds of years, the Jewish community of New York has been deeply engaged in our beloved city, concerned about the well-being of all our neighbors. Guided by our tradition, my organization and countless others across the five boroughs continue to spend many millions of dollars to address food insecurity, expand access to mental health care and legal services, and support older adults, people with disabilities, and families in need, irrespective of faith or background. And we will continue to work tirelessly with departments across City Hall for the continued benefit of all New Yorkers.

We are also immensely grateful to the NYPD under the leadership of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch for keeping our community safe, including this coming Sunday — and appreciate your commitment to ensuring our safety at the parade. We do not take that security for granted. Nor do we take for granted the opportunity to gather openly and proudly as Jews on Fifth Avenue.

So, this Sunday, our community in all its diversity will show up in multitudes not because we believe Israel’s government is beyond criticism, and not because we all agree on the right way forward. We do not.

We will show up because we believe in the vital importance of a Jewish and democratic homeland for our people.

Your absence — and what it represents — will be long-remembered.

But so, too, will our resilience and our enduring love for both Israel and New York City.

And on Sunday, that will be more than enough.

Shabbat shalom