NEW YORK \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu castigated Mayor Zohran Mamdani in his remarks at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, calling the mayor an antisemite and accusing him of \u201cspreading lies\u201d about Jews that have contributed to violence against them.<\/p>\n
\u201cShame on you for distorting the facts,\u201d Netanyahu said. \u201cShame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth, Mr. Mamdani.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,\u201d the PM said. \u201cThey talk to me, they tell me \u2018this isn\u2019t the city we remember, it changed so quickly.\u201d Hate crimes against Jewish New Yorkers have been on the rise, according to NYPD stats.<\/p>\n
Mamdani is an outspoken supporter of Palestinian rights. He has called on the federal government to arrest Netanyahu, whom he\u2019s called a \u201cwar criminal\u201d on a warrant from the International Criminal Court, which the United States does not formally recognize, for Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Mamdani, you try to stop me from coming here. You try to silence me. Well, you can\u2019t silence me. You can\u2019t silence the truth,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n
He said accusations from Mamdani and others that Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza are \u201cthe greatest lie of the century\u201d and that Israel has instead carried out \u201cthe opposite of genocide,\u201d pointing to efforts the Israeli military has made to reduce civilian casualties and to Hamas\u2019 use of civilian facilities as military bases.\u00a0A U.N. commission, as well as international human rights groups, have declared Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Before taking office, the mayor had pledged to have the NYPD arrest Netanyahu if he came to New York. But this summer he backed away from that, saying that the NYPD does not have the jurisdiction to do so. In a statement after the speech, Mamdani once again pointed out the warrant for Netanyahu\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs he has done time and again, Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians,\u201d the mayor said.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu listed Mamdani\u2019s rapport with streamer Hasan Piker, his hosting of a Palestinian journalist at Gracie Mansion and posts the mayor\u2019s wife liked on social media as proof the mayor is antisemitic. He also attacked Mamdani\u2019s labeling of Israel\u2019s actions as a genocide, saying that, actually, \u201cMr. Mamdani\u2019s Hamas buddies\u201d wanted to carry out one against Jews.<\/p>\n
During the roughly 40-minute speech, Netanyahu took a forceful tone, calling the Israel Defense Forces \u201cthe most moral army in the world\u201d and saying the state \u201crose and fought like lions\u201d after the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks in which Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds more hostage.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s speech sparked a protest outside the U.N. that led to more than 100 arrests. Among those taken into custody were a number of left-wing politicians and a number of Hollywood celebrities.<\/p>\n
Mamdani had previously said he would not join Thursday\u2019s protests. Minutes before the address was slated to begin, the mayor posted a video showing him planting an olive tree at Grace Mansion and eating dinner with Palestinian families from Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay peace be our future,\u201d he said in the caption.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu landed at Stewart International Airport on Thursday ahead of his speech. He\u2019s expected to spend less than a day in the U.S., and he is not scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump or other U.S. officials.<\/p>\n
The prime minister had previously promised to berate Mamdani, posting a video earlier this week in which he falsely claimed that Mamdani had incited \u201criots\u201d against Jews in New York and that he is a supporter of Hamas. Mamdani has repeatedly said Hamas is a terrorist organization and called the Oct. 7 attacks a \u201chorrific war crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know that what the prime minister has said in that video is not true,\u201d Mamdani said earlier this week<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we do know to actually be the truth when it comes to the prime minister is that he is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. And as the prime minister is the architect of a horrific genocide against Palestinians, and that just a few days ago, his military killed an 11-year-old boy in what is deemed to be a safe zone in Gaza.<\/p>\n
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