Miss Israel visits City Hall in Manhattan, says won’t try to meet Mamdani

“Whether it’s hosting Miss Israel or meeting with elected officials from Israel, I’m always looking to strengthen” the “deep bond between New York City and Israel,” Eric Dinowitz, a member of the City Council told JNS.

Eric Dinowitz Miss Universe Israel — Eric Dinowitz, a member of the New York City Council and chair of its Jewish Caucus and co-chair of its bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred, tours City Hall with Danielle Yablonka, Miss Universe Israel, Sept. 10, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales/NYC Council.

(Sept. 15, 2026 / JNS)

When someone connected to her team offered to see if Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, would meet with her, Danielle Yablonka, Miss Israel 2026, declined.

“I’m always open to meeting and having conversations, but I’m not looking to give a PR stunt opportunity to someone that doesn’t support my values, my country and my people’s right to exist,” she told JNS.

Mamdani campaigned on having the Israeli prime minister arrested, and his spokeswoman said that synagogues violate international law when they host pro-Israel events. Leaders of major Jewish organizations say that the mayor’s rhetoric makes Jews unsafe.

Instead, Yablonka visited City Hall last week and met with other local leaders, including Eric Dinowitz, a Jewish member of the City Council who is chair of its Jewish caucus and co-chair of its bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred.

“Cultural visits like this are so incredibly important, because it allows us to start to see people as people and not as characters or demons,” Dinowitz told JNS.

“There is a very well-organized attempt to demonize Israel and the Israeli people, and by extension the Jewish people are facing a large brunt of not just hate crimes but even being excluded from educational institutions or different professions,” he said.

In Mamdani’s first month in office, anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York City surged 182% compared to January 2025. Since then, a majority of hate crimes in the city have targeted Jews, even though Jewish New Yorkers only make up about 10% of city residents.

Dinowitz told JNS that members of the City Council met recently with healthcare professionals, “because we’ve seen a surge of antisemitism couched in anti-Zionism in the healthcare industry.”

“I’ve met with countless students who have said they felt excluded or have been excluded from study groups and clubs because of their shared ancestry,” he said.

“There’s a deep bond between New York City and Israel, and whether it’s hosting Miss Israel or meeting with elected officials from Israel, I am always looking to strengthen those bonds,” Dinowitz told JNS. “As more and more people are entering their echo chambers on social media, it’s important we actually visit and learn from one another, which is a critical mission of mine as an educator and as an elected official.”

Yablonka was visiting New York City, where she walked in the “I Love Jewish Girls” runway show during New York Fashion Week.

She met with Michael Novakhov, a New York state representative, and is scheduled to visit the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce this week.

Touring City Hall and meeting with elected officials are exactly the kinds of things that Miss Israel is supposed to do, according to Yablonka.

“I think it’s just a scary time in general to be a Jew in the world outside of Israel, so to be here in New York City, which has been the site of the largest increase of antisemitism in the United States, with the greatest Jewish population, representing Israel in New York is about carrying my country, my people and my story into one of the biggest Jewish Diaspora stages,” she told JNS.

“I definitely felt good to have a representation within City Hall that was a Jewish member, who was proud enough and happy enough to welcome me,” she said.

Her biggest takeaway from meeting with Dinowitz was that “it’s all about building relationships between Israel and New York, and it’s about showing up, speaking up as a proud Jew, listening and finding common ground.”

“I’m sure it’s not easy for him as a councilman to be a Jewish, open Israel supporter when you have a mayor that doesn’t support your people, your country,” she told JNS. “It means a lot to me to be able to create connections with leaders who are able to actually help turn dialogue into action.”

“Making actual change, meaningful change, starts in rooms with people who are the ones making it happen,” she said. (She referred JNS to the song “The Room Where It Happens” from the Broadway musical “Hamilton.”)

The highlight of her City Hall tour, Yablonka said, was the historic Governor’s Room, which dates back to around 1815 and includes art and artifacts, including a desk that George Washington used.

“There is a painting of Washington in the room painted during the war, and in the picture, there are towns on fire behind Washington,” she told JNS. “It was kind of a snub to Washington for not getting paid, because it was during the war, and he looked fatter as well.”

“I love historical paintings, and I also realized while walking around how, as someone who’s studied art history, I just think that I’ve learned more about British history than I ever did about American history,” she said.

“I didn’t recognize any of the American artists who painted these portraits of our Founding Fathers, so it was fascinating to see all these paintings of our own country versus always looking at British historical art,” she told JNS, of the room that included works by John Trumbull.

The visit also gave Yablonka and Dinowitz the chance to share their experiences in America and Israel and compare notes on the political systems of both countries, according to Dinowitz.

Miss Israel tours City Hall in Manhattan

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Eric Dinowitz, a member of the New York City Council and chair of its Jewish Caucus and co-chair of its bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred, tours City Hall with Danielle Yablonka, Miss Universe Israel, Sept. 10, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales/NYC Council.

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Danielle Yablonka is crowned “Miss Israel” 2026 in Miami, July 2, 2026. Photo by Vita Fellig.

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Danielle Yablonka is crowned “Miss Israel” 2026 in Miami, July 2, 2026. Credit: Adley Calixte/“Miss Israel.”

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Danielle Yablonka is crowned as “Miss Israel” 2026 in Miami, July 2, 2026. Credit: Adley Calixte/“Miss Israel.”

“Israel and America are both strong, functioning democracies,” he told JNS. “There are always ways to strengthen our democracy, whether it’s improving our education system and land use systems.”

“We have a lot of jurisdiction over the city. We have strengths and weaknesses in our system, and Israel has strengths and weaknesses in theirs,” he said. “So it’s important to learn from one another to create a path forward to strengthening our respective democracies and our government.”

JNS asked Dinowitz if he thought that Mamdani’s staff should have invited Miss Israel to meet with the mayor. The City Council member said that was outside his purview.

“One of the great things about New York City as compared to, let’s say, Washington, is that our legislative branch and our executive branch are in the same building,” he told JNS.

“Maybe it’s different sides of the building, but we’re all there working together,” he said. “So I’m going to welcome anyone and everyone who wants to work together to make life better for people around our city and people across the world.”

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Vita Fellig

Vita Fellig is a writer in New York City.