Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of endangering Jewish New Yorkers over Gaza criticism

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani of putting Jewish residents at risk through his criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu called Mamdani “the antisemitic mayor of New York” and accused him of spreading what he described as lies about Israel.

Netanyahu said many Jewish New Yorkers had told him they no longer felt safe in the city since Mamdani became mayor.

The remarks marked another escalation in the public dispute between Netanyahu and Mamdani, who has repeatedly criticised Israel's actions in Gaza and described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and the “architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people”.

Mamdani has rejected allegations that his criticism of Israel and his advocacy for Palestinian rights amount to antisemitism.

The exchange came days after Mamdani met US President Donald Trump in New York. Netanyahu praised Trump during his UN address, saying Israel had “no greater partner” than the US president.

In a statement responding to Netanyahu's speech, Mamdani repeated his criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza. He accused the Israeli prime minister of making what he called “baseless lies” about the conflict and referred to the International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity against Netanyahu.

During his mayoral campaign last year, Mamdani said he would direct police in New York to execute an arrest warrant against Netanyahu issued by the International Criminal Court, but has more recently acknowledged the city does not have the authority to take him into custody. 

Mamdani has instead urged the federal government to act on the warrant, while Trump has said Netanyahu would not be arrested.

“Mr Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can't silence me and you can't silence the truth,” Netanyahu said in his speech.  (with inputs from PTI)