A microcosm of the divide over Israel among the candidates in the New York City mayor’s race played out on Friday morning as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in town.
Democratic nominee and front-runner Zohran Mamdani condemned Netanyahu before he spoke in front of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 26 over Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, Mayor Eric Adams, who is running a long-shot reelection campaign, attended the speech and said he was “particularly proud” to meet with Netanyahu afterwards. The campaign of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Mamdani also criticized Friday for his previous defense of Israel, also swung back at the Democratic frontrunner for allegedly advocating a “Trumpian weaponization” of the mayor’s office to engage in international politics.
Netanyahu delivered a speech, after dozens of world leaders exited the hall before he started, in which he rejected the notion of creating a Palestinian state and vowed to continue Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Israel’s nearly two-year-long military offensive in Gaza — launched in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas — has killed over 65,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli military invaded the enclave after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took roughly 250 hostages, 20 of whom are still alive and being held captive.
Mamdani — a democratic socialist Assembly member who has long been a sharp critic of the Israeli government — released a statement invoking a UN Human Rights Council (HRC)-convened commission report earlier this month, which alleged that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
“This morning, Benjamin Netanyahu will address the United Nations — an institution which has concluded his government is committing a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” Mamdani said. “During the course of his speech, another Palestinian child will undoubtedly be killed by the Israeli military in Gaza, as they have been every single hour for nearly two years.”
For its part, Israel has strongly denied accusations of genocide and insisted it is following international law in its prosecution of the war.
Mamdani had previously pledged to honor an International Criminal Court warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest if he becomes mayor — a vow that drew backlash from local Jewish leaders and that legal experts say would likely be unworkable.
The Democratic nominee also slammed Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who are both running as independents, for their continued fervent support of Israel and Netanyahu.
“Eric Adams will greet Netanyahu as a friend,” Mamdani said.
“Andrew Cuomo proudly served on his legal defense team,” he added, referring to Cuomo volunteering to join Netanyahu’s legal defense against the ICC arrest warrant last November.
In response to Mamdani, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi referenced the former governor’s recent harsher rhetoric surrounding the toll of Israel’s onslaught, while accusing the lawmaker of seeking to use the mayor’s office to advance his “political agenda.”
“As the governor has said, what’s going on in Gaza is horrific, the hostages must be returned, the violence must end, and Hamas must be eliminated,” Azzopardi said. “That said, Mamdani’s insistence on using the powers of the mayor to enforce his political agenda is a positively Trumpian illegal weaponization of the justice system.”
On the other hand, Mayor Adams touted his meeting with Netanyahu, which Hizzoner said was to “thank him for defending the western world and our way of life.”
Adams framed his decision to support Netanyahu as showing support for the city’s Jewish community and upholding the value of welcoming foreign leaders to the UN General Assembly whom “we may not always agree with.”
“As your mayor, my oath is to protect New Yorkers against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, and Prime Minister Netanyahu laid out a clear case that those who call for the death of Jews across the globe are also calling for the death of Americans,” Adams said in a statement. “At a time when much of the world is turning its back on the Jewish State of Israel, the mayor of the largest Jewish community outside of Israel must remain steadfast in our support for Israel, its right to defend itself, eliminate Hamas, and bring every single one of their hostages home.”
The mayor’s praise for Netanyahu comes as he hopes to maintain support among Jewish voters across the city heading into the Nov. 4 general election.
However, public sentiment in the city has broadly turned against Israel’s war in Gaza. According to recent survey data from Siena College and the New York Times, New Yorkers (44%) sympathized more with Palestinians than with Israel (26%).
Furthermore, a July Data for Progress poll found that Mamdani’s condemnations of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights were important to the vast majority of his Democratic primary voters.
