NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- About 100 protesters, including a Democratic congressional candidate, were arrested outside the United Nations as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his speech to escalate his feud with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District, was among those arrested, along with several local lawmakers, according to the New York Police Department. She was charged with disorderly conduct.
Avila Chevalier joined the protest in midtown Manhattan ahead of Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly. The prime minister devoted part of his speech to criticizing Mamdani, who has called Netanyahu a war criminal and an architect of genocide.
“Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie of the century,” Netanyahu said. “So 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.”
Netanyahu added that many Jews no longer feel safe in New York since Mamdani was elected.
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In a statement, Mamdani accused Netanyahu of using the speech to “repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.”
“Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he said.
Ahead of his trip to New York, Netanyahu vowed to “tell the truth” about Mamdani, accusing the mayor of supporting Hamas and inciting violence against Jews. Mamdani rejected the accusations and pointed to the ICC arrest warrant.
Outside of the UN, demonstrators gathered to protest Netanyahu’s appearance and US involvement in Israel’s war in Gaza. They blocked traffic near the complex, prompting police to begin making arrests.
A Mamdani ally, Avila Chevalier defeated incumbent Adriano Espaillat in the Democratic primary in June for a district covering parts of Harlem and the Bronx. The race became a flashpoint in the Democratic divide over Israel, with Avila Chevalier calling for an end to US military aid to the country.
“Netanyahu belongs at The Hague: not in the streets of New York City, and certainly not addressing the United Nations General Assembly,” she said in a statement after her arrest.
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