The mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Lion, spoke alongside public officials from across Nassau County about Jewish identity and the meaning of Zionism at the Great Neck Synagogue on Sunday, March 23.
Great Neck Mayor Pedram Bral opened the event by speaking about Zionism’s place in society today and said Jewish parents should educate their children about their Jewish identity even when others don’t want them to.
“Zionism is not a movement of oppression. Zionism is a movement of liberation, a movement that has been a major part of the Jewish entity for the past 3,000 years,” Bral said. “The word Zion has been mentioned 152 times in Tanakh, and what they’re teaching in universities and in colleges that Zionism is a new word is a false narrative.”
Lion then took the stage to applause and said how Jerusalem is growing despite the ongoing war with Hamas. Lion also added to Bral’s statements on Zionism by saying it isn’t a dirty word.
“Our city is not only the heart of the Jewish people but also a place of hope and generation for the future. Jerusalem is not just for the Israelis. It belongs to every Jew around the world in a physical and spiritual sense. It is our anchor,” Lion said.
The speaking event came days after Israel launched airstrikes into Gaza, resuming the war with Hamas that started when Hamas militants killed more than 1,000 people during the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.
Before Lion gave his keynote address, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said the ties between Nassau County and Israel would continue to grow stronger. He cited actions taken during his administration, such as creating a cultural and economic agreement with the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria.
“We introduced an agreement with Judea and Samaria, a cooperation agreement, and when we started to draft the legislation, our lawyers came to us and said, ‘You can’t enter into an agreement with Judea and Samaria, they said it would be a violation of international law,” Blakeman said.
“I said, ‘In Nassau County, we don’t recognize international law.’ We recognize what is right and what is good.”
Nassau County Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip, who previously served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a paratrooper, also spoke and said the actions she has taken as a legislator and alongside Blakeman would protect the local Jewish community from potential harassment in all areas of life, including college campuses.
Pilip also said she sees the fear in the eyes of Jewish college students who she has met with across the region and she promised to continue fighting for those who feel afraid to talk about their identity.
Rabbi Avi Miller of North Shore Hebrew Academy spoke about the school’s curriculum, which he said teaches students to resist simplistic narratives on Israel because the nation’s history, politics, and culture are too complex. He said learning about it solely through media narratives would be a disservice.
Before wrapping up the event, World Zionist Organization Chairman Yaakov Hagoel spoke to the crowd of dozens in Hebrew and said attendees should make their voices heard in the upcoming World Zionist Congress elections.
The World Zionist Congress meets around every five years in Israel, and American Jews can vote for their representatives who will help decide where over $1 billion in funding for Zionist and Jewish causes will go when the Congress convenes in Jerusalem this fall.
Hagoel said attendees should support the Zionist Organization of America’s Slate #15, which includes over 30 pro-Israel organizations. American Jews over the age of 18 who did not vote in the November 2022 Knesset Election can vote in World Zionist Congress elections online until May 4 at ZionistElection.org.
