Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday (September 22) escalated his public clash with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing the mayor of supporting Hamas and inciting unrest against Jewish New Yorkers, and vowing to address the dispute during his upcoming speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on Thursday, with his visit coming amid continued international scrutiny of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and growing tensions between him and Mamdani over the conflict.
In a video posted on social media, Netanyahu directly addressed Mamdani and accused him of supporting Hamas and encouraging unrest against Jews in New York.
“Shame on you, Mr. Mamdani,” Netanyahu said, accusing the mayor of supporting Hamas and “inciting riots against New York Jews”.
“I’m coming to the UN. I’m going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’m going to tell you the truth about you,” Netanyahu said.
The comments came after Mamdani renewed his criticism of Netanyahu in a CNN interview, describing the Israeli prime minister as a “war criminal” and accusing him of being responsible for what he called a genocide against Palestinians.
Asked about Netanyahu’s video on Tuesday, Mamdani rejected the Israeli prime minister’s accusations.
“Well, we all know that what the prime minister has said in that video is not true,” Mamdani said, according to the material provided.
Mamdani pointed to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu, saying the Israeli prime minister is accused by the court of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He also criticised Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and referred to the reported killing of an 11-year-old boy in an area described as a safe zone.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction, while the United States is also not a member of the ICC.
The dispute has been building for months.
During his mayoral campaign and after taking office, Mamdani said Netanyahu should face the ICC warrant if he visited New York. He later acknowledged that New York City does not have independent legal authority to enforce the warrant and said the federal government would have to act.
Mamdani has also said that New York has a long tradition of protest and that people should be able to demonstrate for or against issues while exercising their First Amendment rights.
He has, however, said he does not plan to participate in protests surrounding Netanyahu’s visit.
Mamdani has been a prominent critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and has repeatedly condemned Netanyahu’s government.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has portrayed Mamdani as hostile to Israel. The confrontation has now moved into the UNGA setting, where Netanyahu is expected to defend Israel’s military actions and challenge criticism of the country.
The confrontation comes nearly three years after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken, according to Israeli figures cited by Reuters. Israel subsequently launched its military campaign in Gaza. Gaza health officials have reported more than 73,000 Palestinian deaths, while Israel says its operations target Hamas and rejects allegations of genocide.
