The city commission of Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., part of the Miami metropolitan area, passed a resolution last month for the city to raise Israeli flags on the anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023.

Mayor Larisa Svechin told JNS that the city didn’t do anything to attract media attention because the idea was to show residents that “we stand on the right side of history no matter what” and to remind residents of “what’s happening without it being used for political reasons.”

Svechin, who is Jewish and was born in the former Soviet Union, will be part of the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s new mayors advisory board. The board consists of mayors throughout North America united in fighting antisemitism, which to date includes mayors in Georgia, Florida and California, the Jewish group stated.

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Svechin told JNS that the board was initiated following a CAM WhatsApp group chat of mayors nationwide. It was structured to feature those who have been “very active in their communities” against Jew-hatred and others who expressed interest in joining.

“The interesting part is that there are a few of us from Florida,” Svechin said. “And I think that’s probably in response to the fact that, what I hear over and over again, is that Florida is probably the safest and most welcoming place for Jews.”

So far, some 90% of the city commission meetings since Oct. 7 have featured resolutions and proclamations that involve “combating antisemitism” and “recognizing the horrors” of that day, she said.

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One of those resolutions recognized Judea and Samaria, as opposed to the West Bank, as the proper historical name of an area described in the Bible. Use of the term West Bank only started following Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, when the area came under the control of Jordan.

Svechin said that “we were first to do that,” even before Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas, decided to change the terminology in her state in April.

Consequently, a state representative is slated to bring forth the same resolution at the state level, according to Svechin.

“It’s very, very significant to recognize that part of the world as Israel,” she said.

Svechin has also hosted fundraisers for wounded Israeli soldiers—not just to be supportive of the soldiers but to the Israeli community and those who have family in Israel, like herself.

Such events have the intended message of “focusing on keeping the narrative of the war and to make sure that people don’t forget that it’s still happening, but also to keep the message very clear that this is not a genocide. This is not Israel being a bully. This is Israel standing up for themselves,” she said.

There have been some instances of antisemitism in her city, she said, such as “swastikas scratched into the ground or in a bus stop with a Sharpie. We quickly cleaned it up.”

But overall, Svechin said she has “only gotten support and people reaching out saying how proud they are to live here and how safe they feel.”

“This conversation is not just about antisemitism and Israel, it’s also about safety,” she said. If observant Jews can walk to Shabbat services safely on Fridays and Saturdays, then everyone else will also feel safe, according to Svechin.

“We do have a much larger observant population than we did a year ago,” she said. “I imagine that it’s a combination of more Jews moving here, but also more people who are Jewish and are becoming more observant.”

The 2024 Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Dec. 11, 2024.

‘A much stronger message’

Svechin went on a trip with CAM to Israel in June 2024, which she said had “a huge effect” on her.

In that trip, the CAM group toured the whole country, which included visiting Kibbutz Be’eri, which was hard-hit in the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, and the site of the Supernova music festival, where 364 people were murdered that day. She also spoke at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, the same weekend that Noa Argamani and three other hostages were rescued in an Israeli military operation in Gaza. The group also met with members of the Bedouin and Druze Arab communities in Israel.

“That trip was not just a history lesson; it cemented my complete and absolute support of Israel and its sovereignty,” she said.

After the trip, she has told community members that there aren’t just shared values with Israel, but that the overall weather and vibe of the Jewish state is reminiscent of southern Florida.

“As soon as somebody feels they are like you in any little way, you all of a sudden are able to understand what they’re going through;, you empathize with them in a different way,” she said. “That’s really been a goal of mine. I’m very happy to say that I’ve been fairly successful.”

On the board, the mayors will “share best practices and come together so that when we do things, we can do them collectively, because anytime you do anything collectively it’s a much stronger message,” Svechin said.

The mayor of Coral Gables, Fla., also in the Miami area, recently tried to get the city to raise Israeli flags to commemorate Oct. 7, though the commission voted it down, Svechin told JNS.

“Had we known in advance that the mayor in Coral Gables, who’s not part of this group, was presenting this resolution to raise the flag, maybe we could have gone there in support,” she said.

Lisa Katz, chief government affairs officer of CAM, stated that “by mentoring their peers, these mayors will help accelerate action across North America, so that no city faces this challenge alone.”

She added that “together, we will help municipalities move beyond statements to concrete actions that protect residents, promote unity and send a clear message that antisemitism has no place in our cities or towns.”

Svechin told JNS that “it’s important that those fighting antisemitism know that they’re not alone, but also that they know that every little thing that they do matters,” Svechin said.