For years, Democratic Party leaders have condemned Israeli settlement expansion, annexation tactics, and, more recently, settler violence in the occupied West Bank. And yet, over the weekend, many of those same high-ranking politicians attended and spoke at the annual Israel Parade in New York City, which featured an Israeli government delegation including some of the most prominent champions of those policies. The contradiction is striking. While Democratic leaders increasingly distance themselves from the Israeli government for its actions in Gaza, settlement expansion, and abuses in the West Bank, many continue to support Israel as “America’s greatest ally” and participate in institutions that provide legitimacy and visibility to the very government, individual ministers, and financial supporters that they routinely condemn.
The parade, founded more than six decades ago and gathering one of the largest turnouts in years with an estimated 50,000 marchers, has been framed as a celebration of Israel and Jewish culture rather than an endorsement of the Israeli government. However, this distinction is difficult to maintain when far-right ministers and settlement organizations are openly featured and celebrated at the parade. Among them this year were Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also referred to as the “annexation minister” for his aggressive policies expanding settlements and Israeli control in the West Bank, and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who at one point suggested nuking Gaza.
In the days following the May 31 parade, high-ranking New York Democrats like U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Attorney General Letitia James made statements distancing themselves from Smotrich’s presence, suggesting they had been unaware he would be in attendance. Schumer’s office specifically cited the senator’s longstanding condemnation of “Smotrich’s extremism.”
However, even if these officials were unaware Smotrich or other far-right members of the delegation would be there, Israeli settlement organizations, such as the One Israel Fund and the Hebron Fund, were not surprise guests and have had floats featured at the parade for many years. These organizations, operating as charities in the U.S., provide financial and material support for settlements in the West Bank, including to some of the most extreme settlements involved in facilitating the dispossession of Palestinian land and settler violence. So why, if these officials so strongly oppose settlement expansion and settler violence, are they continuing to participate in an event that spotlights and celebrates organizations dedicated to supporting those very things?
This paradox is most striking in the cases of Schumer and U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, both New York Democrats in attendance this year. Over the last three years, both have made headlines strongly condemning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its efforts to annex the West Bank. Nadler is also the lead sponsor of the West Bank Violence Prevention Act in the House, while Schumer is a co-sponsor in the Senate. The bill aims to codify the now-revoked Biden executive order targeting “persons undermining peace, security, and stability in the West Bank,” which authorized sanctions on settlers found responsible for committing and inciting acts of violence there. The bill reflects the growing recognition among Democrats that settler violence is a serious, widespread, and escalating problem that Israel refuses to combat.
Democrats can no longer pretend that these figures or political ideologies exist only on the margins of Israeli society. Smotrich, who leads Israeli civilian affairs across the entire West Bank, is not some fringe activist. His Religious Zionism Party has reached all-time-high levels of popularity within Israel. Other far-right extremist parties, like National Security Minister Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, are also rising in popularity, with both parties expected to gain seats in the upcoming Israeli elections. Settlements and West Bank annexation are also increasingly popular policy positions among Israel’s population, and the enterprise is wholly supported and facilitated by the Israeli state through its funding, military protection, infrastructure, and policy. Whether these U.S. officials acknowledge it or not, this is the Israel the parade celebrates: the one expanding settlements, arming settlers, and embedding in wars across the Middle East.
Democrats have tried to separate their unwavering support for Israel from the policies of its government, but they cannot condemn settlement expansion, settler violence, and the Netanyahu government while continuing to treat institutions and events that normalize them as politically neutral. If Democrats want their opposition to be genuine and credible, they must confront not only individual ministers and settlers, but also the entire political ecosystem in Israel that sustains them. They could begin by ending their support for the institutions that continue to platform and celebrate the champions of those policies.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not an official policy or position of the Middle East Policy Council.
PICTURE | An Israeli activist shouts at Israeli security forces as they forcibly remove Palestinians trying to reach their land after Israeli settlers reportedly attacked local farmers working on their land, spraying them with pepper spray, near the Palestinian village of Halhoul, south of the Israel-occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on April 17, 2026. Violence in the Palestinian West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP via Getty Images)