Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to show support for Israel and to denounce rising antisemitism in the wake of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
The rally, dubbed the "March for Israel," was organized by the Jewish Federations for North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The group described the event as an effort to gather in "solidarity with the Israeli people while demanding the immediate release of the remaining hostages and to condemn the rise of antisemitism."
It comes in response to large protests that have taken place across the U.S. and around the world condemning Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and plunged the the impoverished enclave into a humanitarian crisis. The war, now in its sixth week, was triggered by Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel, in which militants killed hundreds of civilians and dragged some 240 hostages back to Gaza.
Overlooking a sea of Israeli and U.S. flags, the top Democrats in Congress — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jefferies — came together on the stage with Republicans Mike Johnson, the House speaker, and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa. They joined hands as Schumer chanted: “We stand with Israel.”
A succession of speakers took the stage to denounce the Hamas attack and what they said was a virulent spread of antisemitism internationally, “an embarrassment to all civilized people and nations,” in the words of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who addressed the crowd by video.
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After “the largest massacre since the Holocaust,” he said, “let us call out together, never again.”
“No one will break us,” he vowed. “We will rise again. … There is no greater and just cause than this.”
Ernst said Hamas' brutality cannot be overstated. “They murder babies,” she said. "They rape women. They abuse the elderly. How anyone in America could sympathize with these terrorists is unfathomable.”
Gil Preuss, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, said that Hamas' ambush on Israel should be an opportunity for peace-seeking Israelis and Palestinians to seek the eradication of the militant group.
"I firmly believe that Israelis and Palestinians need to be able to live in freedom and security, and it is the goal that both populations would like to have," Preuss said. "The question is how do we get there?"
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From coast to coast, people across the country boarded planes and buses bound for the nation's capital. Demonstrators clad in blue and white, carrying signs in support of Israel, streamed into the National Mall hours before the event began.
Nate Lichtenstein of Illinois was attending the rally with his children and grandchildren. Lichtenstein told NBC Chicago that he's concerned about the rise in antisemitic attacks against Jews, which has soared by nearly 400%, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
"I am a child of Holocaust survivors," Lichtenstein said. "My parents lost their entire family during World War II. I did not believe in my lifetime that I would see the kinds of antiemetic incidents, statements and public gatherings. And in some ways, its far worse than I could have predicted."
In Philadelphia, Jeffrey Lasday, of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, told NBC10 he organized 18 buses to take supporters to D.C. Lasday said it's important that they show support for Israel in numbers. Leaders of local Jewish Federations in Connecticut mirrored this sentiment.
"We hope for people just to see that, that we're not going to hide and we're not afraid, and we stand with Israel," Gayle Slossberg of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven told NBC Connecticut.
Tzvi Schwartz, a teacher at a Jewish school in Florida, bused 14 hours overnight with about 50 eighth, ninth and 10th graders from Miami.
“It's very simple,” he said. “There's a certain sense of like, the morality of the world is gone.”
Several demonstrators voiced empathy for the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza and criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies.
“I believe in the state of Israel, but the government is different,” Ben-Yehuda told NBC News. “Israel has to continue, but she has to be for justice.”
The demonstration was met with heightened security and police presence. The Metropolitan Police Department said there were no specific threats against the event but they requested the assistance of the National Guard due to the crowd size and expected attendance of members of Congress, according to NBC Washington.
NBC News reported at least one pro-Palestinian group, the Washington chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement, asked its supporters on Instagram "not to engage" with Tuesday's pro-Israel event.
The Associated Press contributed.
