New York City’s parade for Israel, which has been held annually since 1964 and draws thousands of people to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in support of the Jewish state, will take a more somber tone this year. 

Parade-goers, set to hit the streets on Sunday, eight months after October 7, will tone down their celebratory singing and dancing in favor of delivering a unifying message: “One People, One Heart,” the organizers announced.  

The parade messaging will also prominently feature the words “Bring Them Home,” a plea to return the hostages taken by Hamas that has been heard and seen on posters around the world, New York Jewish Week reported. Yellow ribbons, which have become synonymous with the effort to release the hostages, will also be carried in the crowd. 

The event shows that “even in these challenging times, it is just as important, if not more so, to demonstrate support for Israel, call for the immediate and safe return of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, and take pride in being Jewish and Zionist,” says the organization behind the parade, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a prominent congregation on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, plans to print out hostage posters for marchers to carry, according to their website. 

The families of victims and hostages of the October 7 terrorist attack will be at Sunday’s parade, the event organizers say. Those in attendance will include the parents of a soldier from Long Island who was taken hostage by Hamas, Omer Neutra, as well as a member of Kibbutz Kissufim, Tomer Zak, whose family was murdered. 

Israeli diplomat Ofir Akunis, a long-time parade attendee, will march this year for the first time as Consul General of Israel at New York. Mr. Akunis writes that the parade “reminds us that Jews and the scores of good people who stand with our cause will always outlast those who seek our demise.”

“So In the depths of our mourning,” he writes, “this year is actually the most fitting time I can remember to march for Israel.” 

The name of Sunday’s march was changed to reflect the somber mood of the event, the organizers say. Instead of “Celebrate Israel Parade” the gathering is called “Israel Day on Fifth.” 

“The tone is more aligned with solidarity with the Israeli people and with our Jewish identity,” says the chief executive of the community relations council, Mark Treyger. “This is a moment to speak with one voice to call to release the hostages,” he says. 

The parade, which the organizers report usually sees upwards of 40,000 attendees and has been recognized as the largest gathering in support of Israel in the world, is expecting record turnout this year with new synagogues and schools having signed up to participate. 

The parade is set to welcome 24 new organizations, according to New York Jewish Week, including Mothers Against Campus Antisemitism, a social-media based group that came together after the rise in antisemitic and anti-Israel protests on college campuses.  

While the parade has historically drawn anti-Israel demonstrators, the event’s organizers are planning for a higher-than-usual turnout of counter protesters. 

The New York Police Department is gearing up to provide high level security protections, similar to what is offered during Times Square’s New Years Eve celebration. The NYPD announced that additional police and security officials will be placed along the entire parade route between 57th Street and 73rd street. 

Security is a major concern for those planning to march in the parade. According to a survey commissioned by an Israeli company, Belong, which promotes Jewish migration to Israel, 64 percent of respondents who said that they plan to attend the event are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about their safety. Some 77 percent of respondents who attended the parade in previous years said that they had never felt those concerns. 

 “I will walk down Fifth Avenue as a proud Jewish, Zionist Israeli, deeply grateful for the unwavering support of our American friends,” Mr. Akunis writes.