Israel Day on Fifth (formerly the Salute to Israel Parade and then the Celebrate Israel Parade) is an annual parade in support of Israel that takes place along Fifth Avenue in New York. The parade travels north on Fifth Avenue from 57th Street to 74th Street.
According to the organizers of the parade, it is the largest gathering in the world in support of Israel. It has been held annually in New York City since 1964.
Contingents of marchers come from the New York metropolitan area as well as from other parts of the country Jewish day schools, Synagogues, Youth Groups, Hillels and other organizations including the Chai Riders Motorcycle Club. Marchers also include prominent local politicians.
In 1964 Haim Zohar, Charles Bick, Ted Comet, Alvin Schiff, and Dan Ronen worked together in order to plan a demonstration of American Jewish solidarity with Israel. They coordinated with the Manhattan Day School to march from their school to a theater on Broadway. This March was known as the Youth Salute to Israel Parade.[1]
In 1965 David Ben Gurion visited New York. Thousands of people stood on 5th Avenue watching Ben Gurion, in an impromptu event. This later created parade route followed in future years.[2]
In 2011, the parade was renamed the Celebrate Israel Parade in a launch event at the Edison Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan.[3]
2020 saw the parade go virtual.
In July 2007 the United Kingdom-based Jewish Leadership Council, together with other UK Jewish groups announced that a UK Salute to Israel parade would be held in Central London and Manchester on June 29, 2008 as part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel.[4] These events attracted over 45,000 people to simultaneous street parades followed by open air rallies in Trafalgar Square London and Heaton Park Manchester.
| Parade Number | Israel's Anniversary | Year | Date | Theme | Marchers | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 16 | 1964 | Original Youth Salute to Israel Parade by Manhattan Day School | ||||
| 1 | 17 | 1965 | Impromptu parade on 5th Avenue in honor of David Ben Gurion's visit | ||||
| 2 | 18 | 1966 | |||||
| 3 | 19 | 1967 | Shortly before the Six-Day War, drew a quarter-million people[5] | ||||
| 4 | 20 | 1968 | |||||
| 5 | 21 | 1969 | |||||
| 6 | 22 | 1970 | |||||
| 7 | 23 | 1971 | |||||
| 8 | 24 | 1972 | |||||
| 9 | 25 | 1973 | |||||
| 10 | 26 | 1974 | |||||
| 11 | 27 | 1975 | |||||
| 12 | 28 | 1976 | |||||
| 13 | 29 | 1977 | |||||
| 14 | 30 | 1978 | |||||
| 15 | 31 | 1979 | |||||
| 16 | 32 | 1980 | |||||
| 17 | 33 | 1981 | |||||
| 18 | 34 | 1982 | |||||
| 19 | 35 | 1983 | |||||
| 20 | 36 | 1984 | |||||
| 21 | 37 | 1985 | |||||
| 22 | 38 | 1986 | |||||
| 23 | 39 | 1987 | |||||
| 24 | 40 | 1988 | |||||
| 25 | 41 | 1989 | |||||
| 26 | 42 | 1990 | |||||
| 27 | 43 | 1991 | |||||
| 28 | 44 | 1992 | |||||
| 29 | 45 | 1993 | |||||
| 30 | 46 | 1994 | |||||
| 31 | 47 | 1995 | May 21[6] | ||||
| 32 | 48 | 1996 | |||||
| 33 | 49 | 1997 | |||||
| 34 | 50 | 1998 | |||||
| 35 | 51 | 1999 | |||||
| 36 | 52 | 2000 | |||||
| 37 | 53 | 2001 | May 20 | Amid the Second Intifada.[7] | |||
| 38 | 54 | 2002 | 100,000[8] | 750,000 spectators | |||
| 39 | 55 | 2003 | |||||
| 40 | 56 | 2004 | |||||
| 41 | 57 | 2005 | |||||
| 42 | 58 | 2006 | |||||
| 43 | 59 | 2007 | |||||
| 44 | 60 | 2008 | First UK Salute to Israel parade | ||||
| 45 | 61 | 2009 | |||||
| 46 | 62 | 2010 | |||||
| 47 | 63 | 2011 | June 5[9] | Celebrate Israel Parade was renamed from Salute to Israel Parade | |||
| 48 | 64 | 2012 | June 3 | Israel Branches Out…[10] | 35,000[11] | First contingent of LGBT marchers.[12] | |
| 49 | 65 | 2013 | June 2 | Picture Israel; The Art & the Craft | 35,000[13] | ||
| 50 | 66 | 2014 | June 1[14] | 50 Reasons to Celebrate Israel | 35,000[15] | ||
| 51 | 67 | 2015 | June 10[16] | Israel Imagines | 40,000[17] | Knesset members Avraham Naguise, Yoav Ben-Tzur, Revital Swid, Ksenia Svetlova and Ofir Akunis led the parade with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.[18] | |
| 52 | 68 | 2016 | June 5 | Sight, Sound & Spirit | 30,000[19] | Andrew Cuomo announced the signing of Executive Order 157, barring the BDS Movement[20] | |
| 53 | 69 | 2017 | June 4 | Celebrate Israel Together[21] | 40,000[22] | Opera star David Serero performed the U.S and Israel anthems for the opening of the parade.[23] [24] Andrew Cuomo prior to the parade officially declared it Shimon Peres Day.[25] | |
| 54 | 70 | 2018 | June 3 | 70 and Sababa! (70 & Awesome | ) [26] | 50,000 [27] | |
| 55 | 71 | 2019 | June 2 | Only in Israel – Rak B’Yisrael [28] | 40,000[29] | Theodore Comet, who created the parade, marched in the 2019 parade, marking the 55th anniversary of the parade. Comet was 95 at the time. [30] | |
| 56 | 74 | 2022 | May 22 | Together Again – Kulanu B’Yachad | 40,000 | ||
| 57 | 75 | 2023 | June 4 | Israel 75 | 40,000+ | ||
| 58 | 76 | 2024 | June 2 | One People, One Heart | 50,000+ | Eden Golan was among the high-profile participants. |