Tens of thousands join annual Israel solidarity march along New York’s 5th Ave
Some 40,000 Israel supporters marched down New York City’s Fifth Avenue Sunday as part of the annual Celebrate Israel Parade.
Hundreds of thousands of onlookers lined the parade route on late Sunday afternoon, many waving Israeli flags.
Among those who participated in the event were Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo, along with other US elected officials, Jewish and pro-Israel organizations, schools, and students, Israel’s mission to the United Nations said.
UN ambassadors from Australia, Germany, Ukraine, Norway and other countries also joined the event, as did Israel’s Consul General in New York Dani Dayan.
“In the face of the growing wave of anti-Semitism, we are demonstrating strength and unity today,” Danon said. “Despite the differences of opinion, the connection with the Jewish people in Israel is at the heart of the relationship between American Jewry and Israel.”
Paraders were accompanied by floats, flags, balloons, marching bands — the dominant color being blue — and Israeli music blared from loudspeakers as the procession made its way through the city
Businessman Edward A. Mermelstein, president of the ZAKA search and rescue organization, was the grand marshal of the parade.
Read More: Times of Israel
