Mayor De Blasio To Head To Israel Next Week
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio will be heading to Israel next week, where he will address the need to fight anti-Semitism before a conference of mayors.
The mayor will be in Israel from Friday, Oct. 16 to Sunday, Oct. 18, according to an announcement from his office.
He will speak on the topic of "Anti-Semitism in the West: How Cities Must Lead" as the keynote address before the Annual Conference of Mayors.
The conference was organized by the American Jewish Congress, American Council for World Jewry, and World Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, and will bring together dozens of mayors from around the world, according to the mayor's office.
Travel and hotel costs for Mayor de Blasio will be paid for privately, according to the mayor's office.
Security costs will be covered by the NYPD and the mayor's office said there will be no cost to the New York City taxpayers, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
The mayor's office announced the planned Israel trip back in March, though at the time, it had been scheduled for the summer.
De Blasio has championed Jewish causes. He denounced anti-Semitic violence in Europe at a major New York synagogue and in a trip back in January to Paris following terrorist attacks there.
He also loosened restrictions last winter on an ultra-Orthodox circumcision ritual.
"I want to talk about what I think is a growing scourge of anti-Semitism, particularly in western European nations," he told reporters, including WCBS 880's Peter Haskell, in March.
The mayor said in March that European nations have to step up their protection of Jews, 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported.
De Blasio has made other international trips since taking office, including a political conference in England and a vacation in Italy.
