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Several prominent New York Democrats<\/a> who participated in the city\u2019s annual Israel Day parade on Sunday have condemned the participation of Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Israeli finance minister and a leading figure in the Israeli settler movement, in the event.<\/p>\n Smotrich was among several Israeli lawmakers and cabinet officials who marched in the parade on Sunday. His appearance marked his first trip to the US in more than a year<\/a>, and came less than month after he said the international criminal court (ICC) was seeking an arrest warrant<\/a> against him.<\/p>\n The parade drew a broad roster of New York political leaders, including the New York senator Chuck Schumer; the House representatives Dan Goldman<\/a> and Jerry Nadler<\/a>; New York\u2019s governor, Kathy Hochul<\/a>; the state\u2019s attorney general, Letitia James<\/a>; the Bronx borough president, Vanessa Gibson<\/a>; the city council speaker, Julie Menin<\/a>; the city\u2019s comptroller, Mark Levine<\/a>; and others. New York City\u2019s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, drew criticism<\/a> from pro-Israel figures for declining to attend<\/a>, citing his opposition to the Israeli government.<\/p>\n In the aftermath of the event, several high-profile attenders released statements distancing themselves from Smotrich, saying they were unaware that he would be present and publicly denouncing him. Their statements reflected the difficult dance facing pro-Israel Democrats<\/a> who must contend with Israel\u2019s increasingly extremist government representatives and declining support for the country among their own voters.<\/p>\n \u201cBezalel Smotrich is a far-right extremist whose hateful and divisive rhetoric is fundamentally at odds with the values we hold dear in New York,\u201d Hochul said<\/a> on Monday on X. \u201cYesterday\u2019s parade was a celebration of Jewish pride, community, and unity. I strongly condemn his participation.\u201d<\/p>\n James similarly criticized Smotrich, writing on social media<\/a> that \u201cIslamophobia has no place in New York. I unequivocally condemn Bezalel Smotrich\u2019s hateful rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Schumer told the New York Times<\/a> that the senator\u2019s \u201ccondemnation of Smotrich\u2019s extremism is longstanding, public and unchanged<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Questions also emerged about how Smotrich came to attend the parade. Mark Treyger, chief executive of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC-NY), the parade\u2019s lead organizer, told the Times<\/a> that they did not know that Smotrich and other far-right Israeli officials, which included<\/a> government ministers Ofir Sofer, Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Amichay Eliyahu, were attending.<\/p>\n Treyger said that Smotrich and other officials appeared to have been brought to the parade with a group from Israel\u2019s consulate general in New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a complete lack of transparency here,\u201d Treyger told the outlet, adding that he did not learn of Smotrich\u2019s presence until near the end of the event. The Israeli consulate of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.<\/p>\n In a social media post on Monday, Treyger added that<\/a> \u201cwhile some individuals who attended were neither invited by JCRC-NY nor known to us in advance, participation in the parade is not an endorsement of any political figure or ideology\u201d.<\/p>\n Treyger added: \u201cWe reject rhetoric that dehumanizes others, fuels division, or diminishes the dignity of any human being.\u201d<\/p>\n Smotrich has called for Israel to annex the West Bank<\/a> and for Palestinian villages there to be ethnically cleansed<\/a>, and for Gaza to be \u201cdestroyed<\/a>\u201d. He has also described himself as \u201cproud homophobe\u201d<\/a>. Last year, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions<\/a> on Smotrich, as well as on the Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, saying<\/a> that the ministers <\/strong> had \u201cincited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights\u201d.<\/p>\n Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel, also condemned<\/a> Smotrich\u2019s appearance and said that Smotrich was \u201cnot invited to the Israel Day Parade in New York\u201d adding that \u201che crashed it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe should have stayed away,\u201d Shapiro wrote. \u201cHis extremist views do harm to the US-Israel relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani said on Monday <\/a>that he was \u201coffended\u201d by the participation of Smotrich and several other Israeli lawmakers and ministers.<\/p>\n Speaking on MS NOW<\/a>, Mamdani said that \u201cyou can see in the participation of the far-right Israeli minister Smotrich, as well as a number of other ministers, a vision of annihilation, a complicity in genocide and, frankly, a belief that does not have much value for even the sanctity of children in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n Mamdani, however, did commit extensive security to the parade, in which his police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, marched. <\/strong>\u201cWhen it comes to members of my administration, I allow them to make their own decisions as to what marches they would like to participate in,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n Former New York City comptroller Brad Lander also skipped the parade. <\/strong>Lander is now running for Congress<\/a> against Goldman in a primary race that has come to focus<\/a> on the candidates\u2019 differing positions on Israel.<\/p>\n