NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a video Tuesday, escalating a feud with one of his most prominent US critics as he travels to the United Nations General Assembly.
“Shame on you, Mr. Mamdani,” Netanyahu said in the video posted to social media, accusing the mayor of supporting Hamas and “inciting” violence against Jewish New Yorkers. He said he would use his UN address to “tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’m going to tell the truth about you.”
Mamdani called Netanyahu’s accusations false, pointing to the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for the Israeli leader over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“We all know that what the prime minister has said in that video is not true,” Mamdani told reporters. He called Netanyahu “the architect of horrific genocide against Palestinians” and said Israeli forces killed an 11-year-old boy in a designated safe zone in Gaza days earlier.
Israel rejects accusations of genocide, saying its war in Gaza was a legitimate response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, in which militants killed about 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostage. Israel’s military campaign has left more than 73,000 people dead, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The confrontation is the latest in a months-long dispute between the two leaders, and comes a day after Mamdani and President Donald Trump appeared together at Gracie Mansion, where Trump praised the mayor saying he’s “got great potential.”
Mamdani backed away in July from a pledge to enforce the ICC warrant against Netanyahu, acknowledging that as mayor he lacks the legal authority to do so. Heads of state traditionally have diplomatic immunity while in the US on official business, and the US isn’t a party to the ICC.
Mamdani has continued his criticism of the Israeli leader, labeling him a war criminal who “is not welcome in New York City.”
Netanyahu said Sunday on Fox News that he would attend the General Assembly despite the dispute, accusing Mamdani of promoting “bogus charges,” dividing New Yorkers and “fomenting hate.”
“I intend to come and speak the truth, speak for Israel and for the Israeli-American alliance from the podium of the United Nations,” Netanyahu said.
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