New York City Mayor Eric Adams spoke to the effectiveness of Israeli police drones during his visit to Israel, calling them “a little bit more advanced” than the ones presently used by the New York Police Department (NYPD) in a Wednesday hearing.
The New York City mayor noted that the Israeli drones are used by police in more creative ways than by the NYPD, such as in coordination with police motorcycles or in traffic incidents. Adams added that the Israeli drones are more durable than the NYPD’s current fleet and can fly much further distances.
“The method in which they’re using them, the methods in which they are training to use them, is what caught my interest,” Adams declared, adding that some of the novel methods Israeli police utilize drones will be brought back to the NYPD for evaluation.
“You all know that I’m a great fan of technology and all it can do to make our lives easier and safer,” the mayor said. “And Israel is on the cutting edge of exciting developments in technology that will benefit all of us.”
Mayor Adams’ Israel trip
Adams, who is scheduled to return to New York on Thursday, landed on Monday on a scheduled trip to meet leaders of Israel’s government and Jewish organizations.
Adams met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, and various leaders from Jewish groups such as Combat Antisemitism on Tuesday. He also toured Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Machane Yehuda market, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Adams also participated in a round-table discussion regarding Israel’s judicial reform protests.
“We like to believe New York is the Israel of America – between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,” Adams told Foreign Minister Eli Cohen at a Tuesday meeting where the two discussed antisemitism and the links between New York and Israel.
“You are a great friend of Israel,” Netanyahu told Adams during their Tuesday meeting. “You live in a city that is the intellectual, cultural, and financial hub of the world and we’re sort of another hub. If we combine the hubs together, we will do better for everyone.”