NYC officials address Israel solidarity event at Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University (YU), the Orthodox university in New York City, held an event in solidarity with Israel amid the ongoing war with Hamas. The event, which drew more than a thousand participants, stood in contrast to the controversies and dueling protests characteristic of the responses to the war on other American campuses. 

Ari Berman, the university's president, called on "all university presidents to issue [statements] with moral clarity for their entire university, that what happened has to be eradicated. What happened can never happen again. And we need to give Israel the strength to defend itself and to defend the world against this type of evil."

Berman noted that his son, who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has been mobilized:  "I have never previously sent my son off to war," Berman said, "but like all of his friends in combat units, he was called up to service."

Several YU students who are also soldiers in the IDF delivered the prayer for IDF, while the leaders of various YU institutions, such as Stern College for Women and the university's counseling center, spoke from the stage.

Public officials address the event

Tsach Saar, Acting Consul General of Israel, also delivered remarks, as did Carmen De La Rosa, who represents YU's district on the New York City Council. "We pray for you, we pray for your family members," De La Rosa said. "Understand that in your pain you are not alone, and that this community is a resilient one that will forever stand in solidarity and love with all of you."

Aya Keefe, Deputy Manhattan Borough President, also addressed the event. "We are not okay," she said, echoing similar remarks from New York City Mayor Eric Adams last week, which circulated on Israeli social media. "Our community is not okay. We are devastated, we are hurting, and we are saddened to our bones. But, do not be mistaken, our community is not broken. We remain, as we have always been in the face of devastation, strong and united. We will persevere."

The Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, is currently in Israel on a solidarity visit.