Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tore into Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a Thursday address to the UN — claiming “Jews no longer feel safe” in New York City under Hizzoner.

Netanyahu ripped the socialist mayor for “falsely, repeatedly” accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, noting that Mamdani tried to silence him by calling for his arrest ahead of the UN General Assembly in Midtown.

“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” Netanyahu said. “They talk to me. They tell me this isn’t the city we remember. It changed so quickly.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the UN General Assembly in Manhattan on Sept. 24, 2026. ZUMAPRESS.com

The Israeli PM erupted, “Now it’s no wonder you praise criminals convicted of supporting Hamas — you count as friends people like Hasan Piker, who said … America deserved 9/11. Some friends you have.”

“Your wife liked to post praising the Oct. 7 massacre. She liked another post saying Tel Aviv shouldn’t exist,” Netanyahu continued. “You refused to condemn any of that. You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide.”

The defiant Israeli leader added: “Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me. 

“You can’t silence the truth. And here is the simple truth… Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide,” Netanyahu said. 

Netanyahu accused Mayor Zohran Mamdani of making New York City an unsafe place for Jews Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

“That’s exactly what Mr. Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us had we not stopped them” on Oct. 7, 2023, he added. “They would have killed every last one of us.”

Mamdani, who took office in January, has long been an outspoken critic of Israel, repeatedly vowing on the campaign trail that he’d order Netanyahu’s arrest, despite the NYPD having no power to cuff a foreign dignitary.

But in July, the young socialist later dropped a performative video admitting that his admin had failed to find a loophole to arrest Netanyahu on a warrant from the International Criminal Court, whose authority the US does not recognize.

The mayor previously threatened to have Netanyahu arrested if he visited New York City. REUTERS

But he still branded Netanyahu a “war criminal” and at first encouraged anti-Israel demonstrators to take to the streets, before later walking back the comments.

Mamdani confirmed he wouldn’t take part in protests against the prime minister during the 2026 General Assembly — though several of his Democratic Socialists of America comrades were arrested by the NYPD Thursday for civil disobedience outside the UN building.

Hizzoner, instead, posted a video during Netanyahu’s speech that featured Palestinian families planting an olive tree with him in a pot at Gracie Mansion.

Zohran Mamdani planted an olive tree at Gracie Mansion with Palestinian families from Gaza. @NYCMayor

Meanwhile, the prime minister slammed him over the rise in antisemitic attacks in the city this year.

“The lies you and other antisemites spread about the Jews and the Jewish state have real consequences,” he said, adding,  “In New York, Jews are threatened on the way to synagogue. Jews have been stabbed in the streets.

“Jews are demonized, targeted. They’re targeted simply for being Jews.”

Anti-Jewish hate crimes have surged by 8% in the Big Apple so far this year, according to NYPD statistics.

People participating in a “No More Excuses Rally Against Antisemitism” protest outside of the UN building on Sept. 23, 2026. Getty Images

Overall hate crimes are up just over 15% through August, with 425 incidents recorded in the first eight months of the year compared to 367 over the same time period in 2025.

But antisemitic acts account for the majority of incidents, with 229 reports of anti-Jewish hate crimes, according to the latest police data, which also showed 27 anti-Muslim attacks.

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“As he has done time and again, Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians,” Mamdani said in a statement after the address. 

“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.”