Netanyahu Rails Against ‘antisemitic’ Mamdani In Defiant Un Speech

NEW YORK — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his annual address at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to take withering aim at Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling the New York City executive an “antisemite” and claiming he’s “buddies” with Hamas terrorists.

“To all those that are spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts,” Netanyahu said in his roughly 40-minute speech, which was initially interrupted by dozens of delegates walking out in protest.

Mamdani, who has labeled Netanyahu a war criminal, quickly punched back, issuing a statement that accused the Israeli leader of repeating “baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.”

Netanyahu’s highly-anticipated speech came as he continues to face an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court accusing him of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity as part of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The speech also comes as Netanyahu is in a fight for his own political survival, with next month’s parliamentary elections in Israel looming. As he vies to remain prime minister, Netanyahu has increasingly used Mamdani as a foil, even displaying the mayor in campaign ads.

Though he has publicly accused New York City’s first Muslim mayor of antisemitism before, Netanyahu’s speech was remarkable for its defiance, delivered in a staid setting known for decorum.

In the lead-up to the speech, Netanyahu appeared to suggest he’d present new information about Mamdani in his remarks, writing in a social media post to expect “surprises.” But his remarks didn’t divulge anything new about the mayor, instead highlighting past news reports about Mamdani.

For instance, he seized on Mamdani’s associations with Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who once said the U.S. “deserved 9/11,” and referenced that the mayor’s wife, first lady Rama Duwaji, liked a social media post celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.

“Some friends you have,” Netanyahu said.

Citing conversations with local residents, Netanyahu also said Jews “no longer feel safe in New York” and drew a direct parallel between Mamdani’s rhetoric on Israel and an uptick in antisemitic hate crimes in the city.

“Israel didn’t commit genocide, Israel prevented genocide, and that’s exactly, that’s exactly what Mr. Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us had we not stopped them — they would have killed every last one of us,” Netanyahu said before addressing the mayor directly: “The lies you and other antisemites spread about the Jews and the Jewish state have real consequences.”

Mamdani, who denies espousing any antisemitic beliefs and has boosted funding for combating hate crimes in the city, is a longtime critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. He began accusing the Jewish state of committing a genocide in Gaza within days of the Oct. 7 attacks.

As recently as July, Mamdani said he was looking into ordering the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu on the ICC warrant — even though he reportedly knew at the time that he could not legally do so. Later that month, the mayor acknowledged publicly that he could not arrest the Israeli prime minister, but called on President Donald Trump’s administration to do so. Trump, a key Netanyahu ally, has not entertained the request.

Mamdani mostly stayed out of the public eye Thursday, instead holding private meetings, including with Netherlands Prime Minister Rob Jetten. Many of Mamdani’s supporters, however, attended an anti-Netanyahu protest outside the U.N. that ended with roughly 100 arrests, including of several politicians allied with the mayor, such as Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District.

“I refuse to allow a war criminal to roam the streets of our city unchallenged,” Avila Chevalier said in a statement after her arrest.