Mayor Eric Adams met with the mayor of Jerusalem in Israel on Monday and plans to huddle with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — which some pundits see as an effort to woo Jewish voters back home.
The three-day sojourn — Hizzoner’s first trip to Israel since becoming mayor and his third overall — comes at a fraught moment for him.
In New York City, there is a relentless migrant crisis, law-enforcement investigation into a former member of his administration, allegations of a straw-donor scheme and a potential federal takeover of city jails, specifically Rikers.
“The mayor’s calculation here is that he’s got to win the outer boroughs if he’s going to win in 2025,” veteran political strategist Hank Sheinkopf told The Post. “This means appealing to the socially conservative Orthodox populations and evangelical Christians in the Latino and African American communities.
“You saw on his schedule he said ‘Jerusalem, Israel,’ that’s the signal,” the pundit said.
Adams spent Monday speaking with Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze representatives in Israel, saying now is the time to act on one’s faith, according to the Times of Israel.
“What we learn in our churches, synagogues and mosques cannot remain in the sterilized environment of our places of faith,” the mayor said.
Hizzoner’s visit also comes as antisemitic violence continues throughout the five boroughs, although hate crimes citywide declined by approximately 8% compared to last year, based on a recent NYPD report.
On a lighter note, Adams told reporters there that he is most looking forward to Israeli food and added — with a smile — that he is considering retiring there after leaving office.
“I love Israel, and I’ve got a few more [countries] that I’m going to keep a secret so that the press won’t be able to find me when I retire,” he said jokingly.
City Hall initially provided scant details about Adams’ itinerary but later revealed that Hizzoner is set to meet with Netanyahu and, separately, with the leaders of the protest movement against Netanyahu’s controversial move to limit the power of Israel’s courts.
Netanyahu’s government has pushed through a new law that limits the powers of the country’s courts against a backdrop of massive protests and labor strikes challenging the measure.
New York Jewish Agenda put out a statement shortly after City Hall announced Adams’ trip that called on the mayor to “represent the majority of New Yorkers who are deeply concerned about the anti-democratic actions of this government.”
The mayor’s trip is being sponsored by the non-profit UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
