Jewish people, State of Israel do not need your recognition,' Akunis tells Mamdani

(JNS) - Growing up in Israel, Ofir Akunis remembers spending Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israeli Independence Days, dancing in Kings of Israel Square, which was renamed Rabin Square after Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995.

This year, it felt different to Akunis, Israeli consul general in New York.

"It's a unique feeling - to be somewhere else in the world during Yom Ha'atzmaut," he told JNS. "It's totally different. This is an ordinary day here. It's a day off for the employees of the Israeli consulate and other consulates around the country and the world, but it's not the same...