Smotrich's Israel Day Parade Appearance Draws Condemnation 3 Years After U.S. Shunning Calls
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 1
Smotrich's Israel Day Parade Appearance Draws Condemnation 3 Years After U.S. Shunning Calls
6 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 1
New York officials on Monday denounced Bezalel Smotrich's appearance in Manhattan's Israel Day Parade, with Gov. Kathy Hochul calling the Israeli finance minister a far-right extremist whose rhetoric clashes with New York values.
Organizers said they were surprised Smotrich was among the Israeli delegation, and local elected officials who marched said they had not known they would share Fifth Avenue with him and other hard-line ministers.
The backlash undercut weeks of claims that the parade was an apolitical celebration of Jewish identity, not a forum for Israeli politics or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Progressive groups said Smotrich appeared to be celebrated in public despite his record of hostile remarks about Palestinians, LGBTQ people and Reform Jews, and despite Jewish groups urging he be shunned in the United States 3 years ago.
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