The struggle against anti-Semitism and the effort to free the hostages: Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, met last night with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, the leader of Shuva Israel communities worldwide, and discussed with him current issues, chief among them the issue of anti-Semitism and the release of the hostages held by Hamas.
Mayor Adams came to Rabbi Pinto's house in Manhattan for a special visit and talked with the rabbi for a long time. Rabbi Pinto praised the mayor for galvanizing to support American Jews and fight manifestations of anti-Semitism in the world. "We must eradicate the scourge of anti-Semitism," said Rabbi Pinto, and added: "Every person in the world who has a heart must fight for the release of the hostages in the hands of Hamas. The suffering that the families are going through is unimaginable."
Earlier, Mayor Adams hosted the families of the hostages Omer Shem Tov, Tamir Nimrodi, Itai Chen, Shlomi Ziv, Hanan Yavlonka, Alex Ladovanov, Ron Binyamin, the family of the returned hostages Dafna and Ella Elyakim and the father of Roni Eshel of blessed memory. Eyal Eshel lit the menorah together with the mayor.
Some may remember that Adams visited Israel following the events of October 7th and since then he has maintained his resolute attitude against the Hamas terrorist organization.
The families of the hostages thanked the mayor for President Biden and the US’s support of Israel and asked him to continue increasing American pressure on Qatar and Egypt to release the hostages from Gaza.
"We are in a defining moment, a moment in which we understand the importance of light and what it symbolizes, especially after the terrible events of the seventh of October. We want to be clear in our call: Hamas must be destroyed. I support the families of the hostages who came to New York to express the demand for the return of their loved ones now. It's outrageous that those responsible for the heinous crimes were not brought to justice, that there are hostages in Gaza, and that the networks are filled with hate," said Adams.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel