Perhaps no image better captures Eric Adams’s tenure as mayor of New York than the photo taken of Adams praying solemnly at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, arm outstretched toward the wall, his wrist adorned by a beaded bracelet that reads “HUSTLE.” The hustling mayor landed in Israel this past Monday as part of a four-day trip to tour the country and meet with various political and business leaders. In an opinion piece published in the Jerusalem Post, titled “Israel Is My Second Home,” Adams says his trip’s goal is to strengthen the partnership between New York and Israel.

Adams’s trip to Israel comes despite increasing international condemnation of the Israeli government’s rolling back judicial limits on its ability to expel and exterminate Palestinians. In his opinion piece, Adams whitewashes the government’s moves to unleash a torrent of violence on Palestinians in the West Bank as “working through contentious issues and having difficult discussions,” while describing Israel’s apartheid state as a vibrant multiethnic democracy.

The trip should come as no surprise, given Adams’s long history of sycophantic support for Israel. During his mayoral campaign, Adams similarly described Israel as his second home, going as far as saying he plans to retire in the Golan Heights, Syrian land occupied by Israel since 1967 and effectively annexed in the decades since.