Andrew Cuomo visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo: Flickr.

JNS.org – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, along with a delegation of top New York political and business leaders, arrived in Israel on Wednesday as part of a solidarity mission to Israel.

Cuomo was accompanied by a bipartisan delegation of New York state officials, including State Senate Majority co-leaders Dean Skelos (R-NY) and Jeff Klein (D-NY) as well as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-NY).  Other business leaders joining Cuomo, included fashion designer Kenneth Cole and New York Daily News publisher Mortimer B. Zuckerman, News Day reported.

“Prime minister, you are going through a very difficult time. That is precisely why we wanted to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel,” Cuomo told Netanyahu during a joint press conference.

Netanyahu, in his remarks, compared Hamas to other global terror threats like the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), which he called “Islamist tyrannies.”

“I want to thank you for coming here and standing on the right side of the moral divide,” Netanyahu told Cuomo.

Governor Cuomo, who is running for re-election this year, has had long-standing warm ties with New York’s Jewish community of about 1.7 million members. According to a recent poll by Siena College, the governor’s favorable rating with Jewish voters stands at 65 percent.