{"id":348854,"date":"2026-09-17T01:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348854\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T01:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:10:14","slug":"mamdani-vows-i-wont-protest-against-netanyahu-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348854\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani vows: I won\u2019t protest against Netanyahu in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zohran Mamdani<\/a> has pledged not to participate in protests against Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial visit to New York next week.<\/p>\n

The Democratic city is bracing for intense and volatile demonstrations against the Israeli prime minister’s arrival on Sept 24 to address the United Nations General Assembly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of New York, prompted outrage among Jewish and Israeli groups in the city for appearing to tacitly encourage such protests earlier this summer.<\/p>\n

“If anyone feels a level of frustration or opposition, protest is something that we will always respect,” he said on July 22 when asked about the anticipated anti-Netanyahu rallies. “I leave it to New Yorkers themselves to make that decision.”<\/p>\n

\"Israeli<\/p>\n

Benjamin Netanyahu has been labelled as a ‘war criminal’ by Mr Mamdani – Ohad Zwigenberg\/POOL \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Confirming his position on Wednesday, Mr Mamdani said: “I do not have any plans to attend any protest at the UN General Assembly.”<\/p>\n

He added: “To New Yorkers, I have never encouraged them to protest. What I have always told them is that they have the right to do so in the city.”<\/p>\n

Mr Mamdani has made a stern enemy of Mr Netanyahu<\/a>, whom he casts as a “war criminal”.<\/p>\n

He has been a staunch and outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza<\/a>, calling its actions a genocide, and has strongly opposed US military and financial support for Israel.<\/p>\n

The politician had been a frequent face at pro-Palestine rallies in the city, notably leading the chants at a Manhattan protest in July 2023. He has not attended any since being elected mayor.<\/p>\n

Before coming to power, Mr Mamdani pledged to honour an arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza if he set foot in New York.<\/p>\n

He was forced to acknowledge<\/a> in July that, as mayor, he did not have the authority to do so but called on the federal government to act.<\/p>\n

Credit: X\/@NYCMayor<\/p>\n

The United States does not recognise the Hague-based ICC and is not a member of the court. Donald Trump<\/a> has assured Mr Netanyahu that he will not be arrested if he attends the UN gathering.<\/p>\n

This summer, Mr Netanyahu’s Right-wing nationalist party placed a picture of Mr Mamdani on a billboard<\/a> alongside the leaders of Iran, Hezbollah and Turkey. “They want Netanyahu to lose,” it read, “Don’t let them win.”<\/p>\n

\"Mr<\/p>\n

Mr Netanyahu’s Right-wing nationalist party placed a picture of Mr Mamdani on a billboard alongside the leaders of Iran, Hezbollah and Turkey – JACK GUEZ\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mr Netanyahu is up for re-election at a time when he is facing a myriad of political woes: corruption charges, frustration among voters at his handling of regional conflicts and a souring of relations with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, is a strong critic of Mr Mamdani, accusing him of fomenting hate in the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, he accused Mr Mamdani of threatening the high-level week, “inciting and calling for people to demonstrate”.<\/p>\n

“I would advise Mayor Mamdani to focus on his responsibilities and tasks as a mayor and not to sow chaos in the city,” he told the Times of Israel.<\/p>\n

The mayor emphasised on Wednesday that there were “no expected threats” before the UN gathering and “we [continue] to be confident in being able to deliver safety and security for New Yorkers”.<\/p>\n

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani has pledged not to participate in protests against Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial visit to New York next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3895,60,58717,17756,130430,9,24,55,54,56,6986,3424,82],"class_list":["post-348854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-israel","tag-israeli-prime-minister","tag-mayor-of-new-york","tag-mr-netanyahu","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-protest","tag-united-nations-general-assembly","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}