By: Russ Spencer

According to a report that appeared on Monday in The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that he will depart for Israel on Friday for a four-day visit that will include meetings with senior government officials, business leaders, and representatives of the country’s vibrant technology sector. The mayor’s itinerary, JNS reported, also features visits to key religious and historical sites, as well as discussions focused on combating antisemitism both in New York and globally.

Adams, who emphasized that his trip aims to strengthen cultural and economic ties between New York City and Israel, said he hopes to “build bridges of understanding” amid an increasingly polarized political atmosphere. The visit, JNS noted, comes at a time when Jewish communities in New York are expressing growing anxiety over the incoming administration of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist mayor-elect whose anti-Israel rhetoric has sparked outrage across the political spectrum.

Mamdani, a self-described socialist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has previously stated that he would seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should the Israeli leader visit New York — a remark that JNS described as “deeply offensive to Jewish New Yorkers and a stark departure from the city’s long-standing tradition of support for Israel.”

Adams’s trip, therefore, carries added symbolic weight. As JNS observed, his decision to visit Israel just weeks before leaving office underscores a sharp contrast between his own record of engagement with Jewish communities and the ideological stance of his successor. During his tenure, Adams maintained close ties with New York’s Orthodox and pro-Israel constituencies, frequently condemning antisemitic hate crimes and pledging increased security around synagogues and Jewish institutions.

In announcing his trip, the mayor’s office reiterated his belief that “the safety of Jewish New Yorkers is non-negotiable” and that antisemitism must be challenged “wherever it emerges — whether in Brooklyn, Brussels, or Beirut.” Adams’s message, JNS reported, resonated with Jewish civic groups who see his visit as both a gesture of solidarity and a warning against the normalization of anti-Israel extremism within New York politics.

Political observers told JNS that Adams’s farewell tour may also serve as a statement of defiance against the ideological drift that has swept parts of the city’s electorate — one increasingly sympathetic to anti-Israel movements and aligned with socialist candidates like Mamdani.

As Adams prepares to meet Israeli officials and business innovators, his trip marks not only the end of his mayoralty but also, as JNS suggested, “the closing chapter of an era in which New York’s leadership viewed friendship with Israel as a matter of moral and civic duty.”