Netanyahu again attacks Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the United Nations, calling him anti-Semite and war criminal

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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu once again attacked New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

He accused the mayor of anti-Semitism and said his stance criticizing Israel put the safety of New York's Jewish community at risk.

Netanyahu said that since Mamdani took office, "many Jews no longer feel safe in New York."

Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of New York, has long been a vocal critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and has called Netanyahu a war criminal.

Netanyahu has also consistently attacked Mamdani over his views, and many of the prime minister's allegations in Thursday's speech were repeats of his earlier statements against Mamdani.

Mamdani's stance on Israel has made him an important political rival to Netanyahu. Netanyahu is currently running an election campaign to become Prime Minister again. Before Netanyahu's speech at the United Nations, the tension between the two leaders had increased further.

Mamdani again called Netanyahu a war criminal in an interview and demanded his arrest, after which Netanyahu released a video attacking the mayor.

In his nearly 37-minute speech on Thursday, Netanyahu spent several minutes specifically targeting Mamdani's allegation that Israel's military action in Gaza was tantamount to genocide.

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A UN commission as well as international and Israeli human rights organizations have concluded that Israel committed genocide during the war in Gaza. This war started on October 7, 2023, after the deadly attacks led by Hamas on Israel.

Netanyahu has rejected these allegations. In his speech on Thursday, he said that "accusing Israel of genocide is the biggest lie of this century."

Netanyahu also mentioned Mamdani's wife Rama Duvaji. Immediately after the October 7 attacks, he was criticized for liking some posts on social media in support of Palestine.

Referring to Mamdani's wife, Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly, "Your wife liked a post praising the massacre of October 7. She also liked another post in which it was said that Tel Aviv should not exist. You refuse to condemn these statements."

Mamdani's wife Rama Duwaji is a Syrian-born illustrator and animator who lives in Brooklyn, New York City. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University, USA and did his masters from the School of Visual Arts, New York City.

Mamdani and Rama got married only last year. Earlier in the year 2024, both of them got engaged in Dubai and then also got married with traditional rituals.

In response to Netanyahu, Mamdani accused Netanyahu of using his speech at the United Nations to "repeat baseless falsehoods designed to justify the genocide of Palestinians."

"But no lies can change the fact that he is still subject to an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity," the mayor said in a statement.

Mamdani was not present at Netanyahu's speech. During the speech he was scheduled to join "a discussion with LGBTQ+ youth" with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Shortly before the speech began, Mamdani posted a wordless one-minute video on social media.

Netanyahu is also mentioning Mamdani in his election campaigns. His Likud party has placed Mamdani's photo on billboards and election posters in Israel, along with photos of the leaders of Iran, Türkiye and Hezbollah.

Earlier this month, the Prime Minister had posted an election video made with AI. It showed Mamdani celebrating Netanyahu's likely election defeat with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iran's Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Netanyahu aggressive on Mamdani from home to outside

In 2024, Netanyahu called the United Nations a house of darkness and a swamp filled with anti-Semitism. Even before going to the United Nations, Netanyahu and his allies had intensified the dispute with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Mamdani said in July that city lawyers were studying whether they could arrest Netanyahu based on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in 2024. The warrant accuses Netanyahu of committing war crimes in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the conflict with Israel.

Netanyahu and the Israeli government have rejected these allegations and challenged the legality of the arrest warrant.

Mamdani has also admitted that local authorities cannot enforce this arrest warrant. But this confrontation has made Mamdani a useful target for Netanyahu's election campaign.

Referring to Mamdani in a video before leaving for New York, Netanyahu had said, "I am going to the United Nations. I will tell the truth about our brave soldiers and I will tell the truth about you too."

Mamdani hit back on Tuesday and called Netanyahu the mastermind of the horrific genocide against Palestinians.

Arab governments have used the United Nations as a platform to criticize Israel for decades, but this year the attacks on Netanyahu's policies have been even more sharp.

Jordan's King Abdullah II mainly criticized Israel in his speech at the United Nations on Tuesday.

Netanyahu is facing a tightly contested election. According to the current opinion survey, he will not be able to get the required majority to form the government in the elections to be held on October 27.

The Israeli public is divided about his leadership. In a survey conducted in June by the Israel Democracy Institute, 61 percent of Israelis said that Netanyahu should not run for re-election.

Netanyahu has been Prime Minister of Israel for a total of about 19 years in his various terms starting in the 1990s.

Although his military operations are widely supported by many Israelis, his opponents charge that Netanyahu failed to prevent the October 7 attacks. They also say they have weakened Israel's alliance with the US and relations with other major powers.

The Trump administration earlier this month proposed a $2.8 billion arms package for Israel. But Trump's anger with Netanyahu has come to the fore several times in recent months during his efforts to end the war with Iran.