Thousands of pro-Israel demonstrators 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 than usual because of intense security. The parade — which was expected to draw 40,000 participants, all of whom needed credentials to march — has been previously called “The Salute to Israel Parade” or “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 counterprotesters. Police barricades, chain-link fences and checkpoints guarded by police officers 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, a New York Democrat and the Senate majority leader, drew jeers from the crowd.
As Senator Schumer began to speak at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, those gathered there demanded the return of Israeli hostages. They chanted “you betrayed us,” a reference to Mr. Schumer’s sharp criticism of the Israeli government in a Senate speech in March.
Senator Schumer continued his remarks, saying, “We will not relent, we will not back down.” He added: “Who has caused this evil? Let us say that Hamas is evil and that we will defeat Hamas.”
Eric Goldstein, the chief executive officer of the UJA-Federation of New York, which organized the event, said that the organization recognizes “that there are many Jews in our community who have disagreements about what is the right way forward.”
“But the point is on this day, put those differences aside and come together recognizing the critical importance of showing up proudly and publicly in support of a Jewish homeland,” he added.
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.
Of Mr. Mantzur’s return, she said, “If I have no hope, then who will?”
“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 in Iraq and Syria, known as ISIS, has circulated anti-Israel propaganda online in recent weeks 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, including those from the department’s counterterrorism bureau, patrolled the area.
By Sunday afternoon, the parade remained peaceful. Along the Fifth Avenue route, which stretched from 56th Street in Midtown up to 74th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, 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 lamp posts featured photographs of the hostages and the words “kidnapped by Hamas” or “murdered by Hamas.”
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.”
