NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio described Rep. Keith Ellison, a candidate for DNC Chair, as a “friend” of the Jewish community and a supporter of the state of Israel in front of a large liberal Jewish crowd in New York City on Sunday.

“He has fought anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia all as one continuous struggle,” de Blasio said as he introduced the Minnesota Congressman at a Jewish Rally for Refugees, organized by HIAS, a global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees. “He understands and supports the Jewish community, and he supports the Jewish homeland, the state of Israel.”

In his remarks, Ellison blasted the Trump Administration for omitting any mention of Jews in the President’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement. “They don’t even want to put Jews in the statement,” he said. “How are we going to exclude Jewish people from Holocaust Memorial Day and then defend it by saying, ‘Well, you know, other people suffered too’? That was their answer. The reality is, we know who the primary target and victim of the Holocaust was and we will never forget it. We will stand with you every single day to remind them of it, and we will understand that an attack on one is an attack on all.”

#DNCWatch — @BilldeBlasio introduces @keithellison as a "friend of the Jewish community and a supporter of the Jewish State of Israel." pic.twitter.com/qUbRhhVuGC

— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) February 12, 2017

Ellison has the backing of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and Senator Bernie Sanders, but his past anti-Israel statements, the revealing of anti-Jewish comments, and past praise of Louis Farrakhan has caused many Jewish Democrats to oppose his candidacy for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “If you go back to his positions, his papers, his speeches, the way he has voted, he is clearly an anti-Semite and anti-Israel individual,” Democratic megadonor Haim Saban said in December. “Words matter and actions matter more. Keith Ellison would be a disaster for the relationship between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party.”