Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani chose the second anniversary of Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack to blast Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government for launching a “genocidal war” in Gaza.
Mamdani also argued the United States “has been complicit through it all,” in a statement he posted to his X account.
Mamdani accused Netanyahu and the Israeli government of launching a “genocidal war.” Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
The left-wing Democratic nominee found some space to condemn Hamas for carrying out “a horrific war crime” that killed 1,200 Israelis and said he prays for the return of hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.
About 48 of the roughly 250 Israelis initially kidnapped by the terror group remain in Gaza. Less than half are believed to be alive.
“In the aftermath of that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war,” he said while adding that 67,000 people have been killed – a figure used by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
“Every day in Gaza has become a place where grief itself has run out of language,” he also said.
“I mourn these lives and pray for the families that have been shattered. Our government has been complicit through it all.”
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Hamas’ sneak attack on the Jewish state targeted countless civilians with part of the ruthless assault unfolding at the open-air Nova Music Festival that sent revelers running for their lives.
The depraved murders and kidnappings resulted in Israel launching a military campaign in Gaza in the face of roiling anti-Israel protests and a spike in antisemitic attacks locally and globally.
Mamdani said in his statement he mourns for the victims of Hamas and prays “for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities,” but also called on Israel to end “the occupation and apartheid.”
“These last two years have demonstrated the very worst of humanity,” the 33-year-old pol said, adding a peace deal needs to be reached “through diplomacy, not war crimes.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025. REUTERS
People visit the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of attendees were killed and abducted by Hamas. AP
The remarks were quickly blasted by numerous supporters of Israel, including Matthew Schweber, a member of Columbia University’s Jewish Alumni Association.
“There is no moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel. That statement shows he’s unfit to mayor of New York City,” he told The Post.
“It resorts to classic blood libel by describing Israel as an apartheid state. It’s reminiscent of the blood libel against the Jewish people for centuries that incites violent pogroms.”
Former city Councilman and Jewish activist Rory Lancman also assailed Mamdani for Tuesday’s statement.
“Two years ago, as Jewish bodies were still smoldering and Jewish rape victims were still being identified, Zohran Mamdani attacked Israel for existing, without even mentioning Hamas or its atrocities; today, two years later, as dozens of Jews remain prisoners of Hamas, Zohran Mamdani attacks Israel for continuing to exist,” he said in a statement to The Post.
Mayor’s office spokesperson Fabien Levy also decried Mamdani’s statement in an X post.
“Just to be clear, this is not a statement about October 7,” he wrote.
Israeli soldiers remove the bodies of civilians who were killed days earlier in an attack by Palestinian militants on this kibbutz near the border with Gaza, on October 10, 2023, in Kfar Gaza, Israel. Getty Images
“This is a statement about how much Zohran doesn’t believe in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and one that criticizes our own government far more than a designated terrorist organization.”
In addition to the bloodshed, Hamas kidnapped about 250 Israelis, including women and children, and subjected them to horrid conditions including little food and tucked away in dark tunnels for months.
Israel and Hamas were able to reach two hostage deals — in January and in November 2024 — over the past two years that freed dozens of captives, including the bodies of some that were killed on Oct. 7 or in the aftermath in Gaza.
Many hostages came back emaciated and described the terror of their captivity.
About 48 hostages remain in the Palestinian strip with about 20 expected to still be alive and the rest believed to be dead.
The bodies of two Israeli-Americans, both of whom were serving in the Israel Defense Forces, remain with Hamas.
Another cease-fire deal in the works and led by President Trump could see the rest of the hostages freed.
Mamdani has previously faced backlash for his stance on Israel.
Earlier this year, he skipped out on a state resolution that celebrated the Jewish state on its 77th anniversary.
He also declined to sign onto another resolution that denounced the Holocaust, though a campaign spokesperson claimed he supported it by a voice vote.
He has refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, but as a “state with equal rights” and has vowed as mayor to instruct the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu on international war crimes if the Jewish leader lands in New York City.
Mayoral rival Andrew Cuomo, who is mounting an independent campaign after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, kept the focus on Hamas’ trail of destruction in his statement about the tragic anniversary.
“To the Jewish people- I stand with you,” he wrote on X. “I mourn with you and I will forever be by your side in the fight against evil and anti-semitism in all forms.”
“Bring them home NOW,” he said about the remaining hostages.
Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his mayoral bid last week, also remembered the “trauma” Israelis faced on Oct. 7 while blasting the antisemitism that festered in the months afterward.
“I am praying for the return of all the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas and the end of violence in the region,” he said in a video message.