New York Jewish Democrats defend Mamdani after Netanyahu’s statements — Jerusalem Post
Jewish representatives of the Democratic Party in New York, United States, defended the city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him an antisemite and said he associates with Hamas. The Jerusalem Post reports on the reactions of local politicians.
Netanyahu criticized Mamdani at the UN General Assembly on Thursday. The New York mayor, who describes himself as an anti-Zionist, promised during his election campaign to arrest the Israeli prime minister, but later acknowledged that he does not have such authority. Ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, he also criticized the Israeli government over Gaza.
Reaction from New York Democrats
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who is Jewish, said claims that Mamdani supports Hamas are defamatory. City Council Speaker Julie Menin said Netanyahu’s words do not help reduce tensions and may incite violence.
Mamdani, who supports Palestinians, has previously called Hamas a terrorist organization and condemned antisemitic hate crimes in New York. In response to Netanyahu’s speech, he said the prime minister repeated baseless lies to, in his words, justify the genocide of Palestinians. Mamdani also recalled that Netanyahu is the subject of an International Criminal Court warrant in connection with alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Political dispute
Hoylman-Sigal called Netanyahu’s speech a political maneuver amid the prime minister’s domestic political problems and his election campaign. New York Governor Kathy Hochul had previously also rejected Netanyahu’s claim that Mamdani is a supporter of Hamas monsters, calling the remarks false.
At the same time, Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, supported Netanyahu’s statements and called Mamdani a dangerous antisemite. Progressive Democrat Brad Lander, on the contrary, said that Netanyahu and Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, use accusations of antisemitism for their own political purposes.
Last month, Akunis compared Mamdani’s support for the movement to boycott Israel with Nazi Germany. The head of the mayor’s office to combat antisemitism, Phyllis Wisdom, and the head of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Amy Spitalnick, criticized comparisons of political opponents to Nazis.
