Thousands attend annual Israel Day parade in New York

As New York City prepares for its annual Israel Day Parade, a social media post from political commentator Laura Loomer has added a new layer of controversy to an event already taking place amid heightened tensions.

Speaking at NYPD headquarters on Thursday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch outlined a wide-ranging security plan for the parade.

Though it has gone by different names over the years, the Israel Day parade has always been a must-attend event for mayors, governors and other political leaders eager to win over the throngs of flag-waving revelers who congregate on Fifth Avenue to celebrate the birth of the Jewish state in 1948.

Two weeks ago the mayor's office released a video commemorating the Nakba, an Arabic word for “catastrophe” that is used to describe the displacement of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel’s establishment.