- Netanyahu will denounce New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the United Nations and proceed with his visit despite the mayor's support for his arrest.
- Mamdani sharply criticized Israel's Gaza offensive, called Netanyahu a war criminal; Netanyahu accused him of supporting Hamas and inciting attacks on New York Jews.
- Netanyahu faces an ICC arrest warrant but enjoys immunity while visiting the UN; he will address the General Assembly amid a tight election campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday vowed to denounce New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani before the United Nations, going ahead with a visit after the city’s leader supported his arrest.
Leftist Mamdani has been a virulent critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and renewed his denunciations of Netanyahu in an interview with CNN on Monday, calling him a “war criminal” and an “architect of a horrific genocide” against Palestinians.
Netanyahu in response released a video on social media accusing Mamdani of “supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters who butchered our people.”
“Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews,” Netanyahu said, in apparent reference to a series of antisemitic attacks in the metropolis.
“I’m coming to the UN, I’m going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers and I’m going to tell the truth about you,” he said.
Mamdani has described the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023 as a “horrific war crime” and has condemned violence against Jews in New York. He marked the holiest Jewish day of Yom Kippur on Monday.
Earlier this year, Mamdani said he was considering whether to arrest Netanyahu during the annual UN summit, but later admitted he was unable to.
Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, but neither Israel nor the United States accepts the court and leaders visiting the United Nations are generally immune from US authorities.
Israel’s war on Gaza, which started after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, killed 73,919 people, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Netanyahu is due to address the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
The premier is locked in a tight election race. His campaign recently put up a banner showing Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor, alongside the supreme leader of Iran, the chief of Hezbollah and the president of Turkey, saying they were out to defeat him.
