Former New York mayor secretly honoured Israeli soldiers amid Gaza genocide

Former New York City mayor Eric Adams hosted active-duty Israeli soldiers at City Hall and honoured them for fighting in Gaza while his administration concealed the meeting from the public, according to a report by Politico.

The previously undisclosed event took place in April 2024, as Israel intensified its military assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. Adams’s staff are said to have kept the meeting off his public schedule and received instructions not to publish photographs or information about it on social media.

“The timing of this seems extraordinary poor,” an administration official reportedly wrote in an email ordering the social media blackout.

The email appears in a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by Hasibe Rashid, a Palestinian-American former City Hall aide, against the City of New York, Adams and several former administration officials. Court records show that Rashid filed the case in the Southern District of New York on 26 May, 2026. 

Rashid alleges that the Adams administration denied her a promotion and eventually forced her out of her position because she is Palestinian and repeatedly urged officials to acknowledge Palestinian suffering during Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

According to the lawsuit, Adams imposed what Rashid described as an “anti-Gaza edict”, under which he refused to meet staff members or community representatives when the purpose of a meeting was to discuss Palestine or Gaza. The complaint also alleges that officials tolerated open hostility towards Rashid when she attempted to raise concerns about Israel’s military campaign. 

During a City Hall meeting in February 2024, Adams’s deputy chief of staff, Menashe Shapiro, allegedly told Rashid, “Oh shut up already,” as she stood crying while discussing the devastation in Gaza.

Shapiro told Politico that he did not remember the exchange in the same way, saying: “I don’t recall it happening that way.”

Rashid is seeking reinstatement as a policy adviser in the mayor’s office, back pay, legal costs and more than $1 million in punitive damages. The allegations have not yet been adjudicated.

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The secret ceremony for Israeli soldiers appears consistent with Adams’s broader record of strong political and institutional support for Israel.

In August 2023, Adams travelled to Israel to examine Israeli police technology and tactics for possible adoption by the New York Police Department (NYPD). He praised Israeli drone technology and described Israeli police as “a little bit more advanced”. Adams also praised their methods for handling large crowds, claiming that some were “really humane in nature”. 

After Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023, Adams declared that New York “unequivocally stands with Israel”. His administration repeatedly portrayed pro-Palestinian demonstrations as a threat while supporting aggressive police action against protesters.

In April 2024, the same month in which Adams allegedly honoured the Israeli soldiers, New York police arrested around 300 people during pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University and the City College of New York. Many of the protesters were demanding an end to Israel’s assault and calling on their universities to divest from companies linked to the occupation. 

At the height of Israel’s genocide on Gaza, prominent pro-Israel business figures had communicated privately with Adams seeking police intervention against Columbia University protesters. During an April 2024 video call, participants reportedly discussed political donations and efforts to pressure university officials to allow the NYPD onto the campus. 

Adams continued to demonstrate his alignment with Israel after leaving office. During a November 2025 visit to occupied East Jerusalem, he told an Israeli audience: “I wanted to come back here to Israel and let you know that I served you as the mayor.”

“But I want to continue to have the title that’s more important to me than anything,” he added. “I’m your brother.” 

Before leaving office, Adams also introduced measures adopting the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, restricting cooperation with the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and limiting protests near synagogues.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani rescinded the orders after taking office in January 2026, marking a clear break with his predecessor’s policies towards Israel and pro-Palestinian political expression. 

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