Rain Doesn't Stop Crowds From Gathering To Support Israel At Eisenhower Park

EAST MEADOW, NY — Amid rising antisemitism in the U.S. and abroad, Jewish families gathered on Sunday for the IsraelFest Celebrate Israel Concert.

Despite a steady rain, crowds watched Israeli performances and enjoyed Israeli food.

Throughout the four-hour event at Harry Chapin Lakeside Theater in Eisenhower Park, games were also set up for kids, or they tossed a football around on the grass.

But the recent violence against Jews, including two U.S. Embassy staffers gunned down at Jewish Museum in Washington DC, led to heightened security by Nassau County police.

Cars were screened upon entry, including trunks. Police officers were seen throughout the grounds, including atop buildings with long guns.

Several Jewish Community Centers in Nassau County backed the concert, including the Sid Jacobson JCC of East Hills.

"Israelfest proved once again that Long Islanders of all cultures and all faiths will come out in numbers to support the democratic State of Israel and to celebrate its freedom and independence. It proved that people will not let fear, disinformation or media distortion of the war in Gaza affect their fidelity to the truth," said David Black, Executive Director at Sid Jacobson JCC. "Israelfest was a clear message that our murdered brethren and the fallen in Israel will not have died in vain and the hostages, those living and those who were murdered by terror will not be forgotten."

The IsraelFest Celebrate Israel Concert is billed as the largest such event on Long Island.