The head of the Binyamin Council and the chairman of the Yesha Council, Yisrael Gantz, and the Muay Thai fighter Achavat Hashem Gordon, landed in New York on Friday and arrived at the memorial service of the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l in Queens.
The two met there with Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak Freiman, a Chabad emissary in Zichron Yaakov, and out of love for God, he placed tefillin in Zion.
They then prayed for the success of IDF soldiers on all fronts – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Judea and Samaria, and for the well-being of the State of Israel and the United States in the struggle against the Iranian regime.
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The visit comes against the backdrop of a growing wave of anti-Semitism around the world. Just over the weekend, it was reported that Israeli women were refused entry to a restaurant in Barcelona after wearing Star of David necklaces, while at the same time, New York Mayor Zoharan Mamedani is boycotting the pro-Israel march to be held on Fifth Avenue on Sunday – for the first time in 62 years.
On Sunday, Gantz and Gordon are expected to participate in the large Israel support march to be held in Manhattan, alongside tens of thousands of participants from the Jewish community and Israel supporters across the United States.
Israel Gantz: "We came here with a great prayer for the victory of good over evil. The same extremist forces that threaten Israel also threaten the United States and the entire free world. We are not here to ask for sympathy. We are here to strengthen the partnership between Israel and the United States and ensure that we defeat evil.".
Gantz added: "Precisely in the days when Jews are refused entry to places just because they wear a Star of David, and in the days when the mayor of New York chooses to boycott the march in support of Israel, it is more important than ever to stand proudly with our identity.
""When a public leader in a city home to one of the world's largest Jewish communities boycotts an event in support of Israel, he is not just expressing a political position. He is giving a boost to the anti-Semitic forces operating on the streets, campuses, and social media. This is a real danger to Jews around the world. On Sunday, we will march on Fifth Avenue to say clearly: We will not hide, we will not fold, and we will not let anti-Semitism win.".
