Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a sharp public attack on New York City Mayor Zohair Mamdani from the United Nations General Assembly podium on Thursday, 25 September 2026, accusing him of antisemitism and declaring he was ‘spitting in the face of truth.’ The extraordinary outburst — targeting a city mayor rather than a head of state — drew global attention and, critics noted, inadvertently amplified Mamdani’s international profile.

What Netanyahu Said

Netanyahu’s remarks were a direct response to Mamdani’s earlier accusation that Israel was committing ‘genocide’ and a since-withdrawn threat to arrest the Israeli leader. Speaking from the General Assembly floor, Netanyahu declared: “Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor.”

“Here’s a simple truth,” Netanyahu said. “Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide, and that’s exactly what Mr Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us had we not stopped them.” He further claimed: “Since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York.”

Netanyahu also criticised Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, stating: “Your wife liked a post praising the October 7 massacre [of over 1,000 Israelis by Hamas]. She liked another post saying Tel Aviv shouldn’t exist.”

The Antisemitism Statistics Cited

Pointing to data from the New York Police Department, Netanyahu noted that antisemitic hate crimes had risen by 8 per cent since Mamdani took office, accounting for nearly 54 per cent of the total 425 bias incidents recorded so far this year. These figures are drawn from NYPD statistics, though their direct attribution to Mamdani’s tenure is contested.

Mamdani’s Response

Mamdani issued a statement rejecting Netanyahu’s accusations and pointed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant outstanding against the Israeli prime minister. “As he has done time and again, Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitise his genocide of Palestinians,” Mamdani said. He added: “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.” The warrant was issued in a case brought against Netanyahu by South Africa.

Context: Protests, Arrests, and Diplomatic Backdrop

Mamdani did not participate in pro-Palestine demonstrations held near the UN during the General Assembly week, but several of his political allies did. Police arrested more than 100 people at one protest that blocked the road leading to UN headquarters. Among those detained were prominent members of the Democratic Socialists of America, from the same leftist wing of the Democratic Party as Mamdani — some of whom had received his endorsement in prior elections.

On Wednesday, Mamdani symbolically planted an olive tree at his official residence alongside Palestinian families from Gaza — a gesture that drew further criticism from Israeli officials, given longstanding allegations that Israeli settlers have destroyed Palestinian olive groves.

Notably, US President Donald Trump, in his own General Assembly address on Tuesday, attacked the ICC and called on all countries to reject it — a stance that stands in direct contrast to Mamdani’s invocation of the court’s authority. India is not a party to the Rome Statute, the agreement that established and gives the ICC its legal standing.

Why This Moment Matters

The Netanyahu-Mamdani clash is the latest flashpoint in a broader and intensifying debate within American domestic politics over US policy toward Israel and Gaza. Mamdani’s emergence as a nationally recognised critic of Israeli military operations — and Netanyahu’s decision to call him out by name on the world’s most prominent multilateral stage — signals that the debate has moved well beyond Washington’s foreign-policy corridors. As the General Assembly session continues, both figures are expected to remain in the spotlight.