Longtime pro-Israel activist Dov Hikind is calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to deploy New York National Guard troops to the Israel Day Parade on May 31, citing a rise in antisemitic incidents in the city and concern that marchers and spectators could become targets along and around the Fifth Avenue route.

The parade’s official host, however, says it has not asked for the Guard and is content with the NYPD’s preparations.

“We need to make sure bad things don’t happen,” Hikind, the founder of Americans Against Antisemitism and a former state assemblyman who represented heavily Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn, told The New York Post. “We want to make sure there is safety for the Jewish community. I’m calling on Governor Hochul to bring in the National Guard to help the New York City Police Department.”

Hikind said his concern extends beyond the marchers themselves to people carrying Israeli flags or wearing pro-Israel gear in the surrounding neighborhood, whom he said could be targeted on subways or side streets away from the parade’s main security perimeter. Hochul has previously sent Guard members to staff transit hubs at her direction, and Hikind argued the same logic applies to the parade weekend.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, which organizes the 61st annual parade, has not joined that call. JCRC chief executive Mark Treyger told The Post his organization has full confidence in the NYPD and Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and is working closely with city law enforcement and the Community Security Initiative — the joint security program operated by JCRC-NY and UJA-Federation of New York — on parade-day operations.

“Commissioner Tisch, the NYPD, and all of our law enforcement partners have left no stone unturned in preparing for next Sunday’s parade,” Treyger said. “Extensive planning, coordination, and security infrastructure are in place to ensure a safe, successful, and joyful celebration.”

This year’s “Israel Day on Fifth,” themed “Proud Americans, Proud Zionists,” runs from 62nd Street to 74th Street and is expected to draw record turnout, organizers say, in part as a direct response to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s announcement that he will not attend. Mamdani, a democratic socialist and longtime supporter of the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, becomes the first New York City mayor in the parade’s 61-year history to sit it out, breaking with a tradition observed by his predecessor Eric Adams and every mayor since 1964.

“While I will not be attending the Israel Day Parade, my lack of attendance should not be mistaken for a refusal to provide security or the necessary permits for its safety,” Mamdani said in a statement first reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I’ve been very clear: I believe in equal rights for all people — everywhere.”

Hikind cited the mayor’s boycott as part of the climate that prompted his call. He also pointed to recent anti-Israel demonstrations outside Jewish institutions including the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan and Young Israel Senior Services in Midwood, a Brooklyn neighborhood he formerly represented in the state Assembly.

The parade is taking shape against a broader rupture between City Hall and the city’s Jewish community. The UJA-Federation of New York and the JCRC declined invitations to Mamdani’s first Jewish Heritage event at Gracie Mansion earlier this month, citing his rejection of “the core pillar of our heritage, the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.” A protest at Gracie Mansion is planned for May 26. Mamdani, in remarks at his Gracie Mansion event, acknowledged the surge in antisemitism, noting that Jewish residents make up roughly 12 percent of the city’s population but account for more than half of its hate crime victims.

The Anti-Defamation League has launched a “Mamdani Monitor” tracking the new administration’s posture toward the Jewish community. Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon, who has marched at past parades, has publicly raised concerns about the mayor’s previously stated willingness to direct the NYPD to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the International Criminal Court warrant should he set foot in New York.

The governor’s office has not publicly responded to Hikind’s request.

The parade kicks off Sunday morning, May 31.

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