CCR Condemns New York Officials’ Support of Israeli War Criminals at Israel Day Parade

"The Center for Constitutional Rights is alarmed by the prominent show of support that New York officials provided to war criminals, including Bezalel Smotrich and Ariel Kallner, at yesterday’s Israel Day Parade. In November 2023, our organization brought a lawsuit against U.S. officials for aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide that was then already unfolding in Gaza. Today, more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed as genocide continues and apartheid is further entrenched against Palestinians. Yet yesterday, New York officials marched without shame in New York City streets alongside extreme right religious nationalist Israeli elected officials who incite violence against Palestinians and support conduct the International Court of Justice found to establish a plausible genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza. The International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor is reportedly seeking an arrest warrant against Smotrich, who called for the “total annihilation” of Gaza, and has been banned from visiting numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Norway, The Netherlands, Australia, Slovenia, and New Zealand.

"We commend Mayor Mamdani for choosing not to participate in the parade and refusing to give his office’s stamp of approval to dehumanizing rhetoric and war crimes. The participation of other New York officials, including Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and Senator Charles Schumer, served to stigmatize, isolate, and exclude the many New Yorkers who have been harmed and whose family members have been killed as a result of these Israeli officials' actions.

"War criminals should be held accountable by local, state, and federal law enforcement to the fullest extent possible, and they should be shunned — not publicly supported — by public officials. We urge New York officials to take all appropriate measures to ensure that public resources do not bolster war crimes, and to support the Not on Our Dime! Act."


The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.

https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/center-constitutional-rights-condemns-new-york-officials-support