New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaking in Tel Aviv
(Video: Liron Nagler-Cohen)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams knows that Israel has problems, but he says the country has a secret weapon to overcome them. At the same time, he says the world has to reach the heart of antisemitism in order to destroy it.
Read more:
Adams spoke with a group of top Israeli business, finance and technology leaders on Wednesday evening at the White City Soirée in Tel Aviv, co-hosted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), F2 Venture Capital, and Ximus Forum, the final event of his three-day visit to Israel. The event celebrated economic ties between New York and Tel Aviv.
3 View gallery
New York City Mayor Eric Adams addresses group of top Israeli business, finance and technology leaders in Tel Aviv
(Photo: Adam Sherez)
He looked to Israel's past to offer clues about how it can overcome present difficulties.
"Hard is starting this country being surrounded by people who hated you," Adams said. “Hard is figuring out how to do drip irrigation so you can start growing your own products. Hard is building and being not only a start-up nation, but now leading a number of start-ups you're seeing across the globe. And the reason you've survived layers and layers of difficulties and you're still here, it is not because of the soil but because you're made of good quality. It's the people, folks!"
“Don’t stop believing, Israel,” he added. “That is the potent secret weapon. All of you who are start-ups, you believed in something. The original start-ups were your parents and grandparents, they believed in something. Israel is a unicorn because of them. Don’t abandon what they built.”
This was Adams' first trip to Israel as mayor of New York City, the largest Jewish city in the world, and his third visit to Israel.
3 View gallery
Adams lays a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem
(Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
Adams, who has visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum as part of his trip, also commented on the global fight against contemporary Jew hatred.
"As I walked through and saw the exhibit of the Holocaust, I saw those images and realized that we would look at the men who wore the uniforms without realizing that there was an entire team of hate behind them. There was propaganda. There were those who were making movies, there were those who were attempting to rewrite history. There were those who took images and depicted the Jewish people in a certain way," he said.
"And when you start to combat antisemitism, if you miss all the layers, then you will only peel off the top. We have to go to the crevices of all of those who are participating in antisemitism, who are hiding their hand. They throw a rock, hide their hand, and then when you're bleeding, they give you a Band-Aid and you thank them, when in fact, they were the ones who threw the rock in the same place.
"If we want to dismantle and combat antisemitism, we have to go to the core and the heart of it and dismantle the entire team. That's how you get rid of antisemitism," he asserted. "We can't be duped again. There are countless number of people who participated in the Holocaust who got away because we were so focused on the top layers. Let's not make that mistake again."
3 View gallery
New York City Mayor Eric Adams visits the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem
(Photo: Arnon Busani)
Other speakers at Wednesday’s gathering, moderated by CAM Senior Advisor Revital Yakin Krakovsky, included founder and managing partner of F2 Venture Capital Jonathan Saacks, Carbyne VP Global Partnerships Michal Raz and serial entrepreneur and investor Guy Nizan.
"New York and Tel Aviv stand out among the most innovative economic hubs across the globe. The visit of Mayor Adams is poised to further enhance the thriving and mutually beneficial business and high-tech ties between these two dynamic cities," CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa said.
"We greatly appreciate the mayor’s strong and deeply felt friendship with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and we're excited to continue collaborating with him to tackle common challenges and capitalize on shared opportunities as we navigate the path forward in an increasingly interconnected world," he added.