Sept. 24 (UPI) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a speech Thursday at the United Nations General Assembly, accusing him of being anti-Semitic.
“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of the city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” Netanyahu said. “They talk to me. They tell me, ‘This is not the city we remember.’
“Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts, shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor, shame on you for spitting in the face of truth.”
In a statement after the speech, Mamdani said, As he has done time and again, Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.
“Yet, no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Mamdani, who is a longtime critic of Israel and supports Palestinian independence, last year ran for mayor, promising to execute an international arrest warrant against Netanyahu during his next visit to New York, accusing the premier of being a war criminal for the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza.
In July, Mamdani said city officials did not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu.
The mayor has said he opposes “hate or bigotry of any kind.”
Thursday was the first time Netanyahu has visited the city since Mamdani took office at the start of the year.
Netanyahu denies accusations of genocide in Gaza and addressed Mamdani’s remarks about the Israeli government.
“You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide,” Netanyahu said in the speech. “You try to stop me from coming here. You try to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth. Here’s a simple truth: Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide.”
Many delegates walked out just before Netanyahu began speaking. Some supporters chanted “Am Yisrael Chai?” (“The people of Israel live!”)
“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now. Thank you very much,” he said.
Just before Netanyahu spoke, Mamdani posted a video of an olive tree being planted at Gracie Mansion with Palestinian families from Gaza.
“May peace be our future,” Mamdani said in the post.