New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to distract the world from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza when Netanyahu openly criticized Mamdani at the U.N. General Assembly last week.
“All of this is an attempt to distract from responsibility. Name as many people as possible. Try and make it into a back and forth,” Mamdani said of Netanyahu’s supposed strategy in a Thursday appearance on Theo Von’s podcast.
“It’s not about me and him,” the mayor continued. “It’s about the fact that he’s the architect of a genocide. It’s like, yeah, if I was the architect of a genocide, I would probably talk about anything but that.”
On Sept. 24, Netanyahu went after Mamdani during a blistering speech at the U.N. headquarters in New York City for alleging the Jewish state is responsible for a genocide of the Palestinian people.
“Here’s the simple truth: Israel didn’t commit genocide,” Netanyahu said. “Israel prevented genocide. And that’s exactly what Mr. Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us, had we not stopped them.”
Mamdani is known for his outspoken criticism of Israel related to its war with Hamas in Gaza. Despite a ceasefire brokered by the United States last year, Israeli strikes and military operations continue in the Palestinian enclave to this day.
While speaking with Von, Mamdani said it was “strange” to hear Netanyahu call him out on the world stage. The mayor revealed he was meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten at the LGBT Community Center in Manhattan when he found out the Israeli leader named him in his U.N. speech.
“I get back from that meeting, and it’s like, ‘Oh, by the way, here’s what he was saying at the U.N.’ All right,” Mamdani said as he shrugged.
MAMDANI UNVEILS BLUEPRINT TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM IN NEW YORK CITY
Before Netanyahu arrived in New York City, Mamdani expressed his desire to arrest him with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity connected to the conflict in Gaza. However, the mayor had no authority to authorize Netanyahu’s arrest. He even implored President Donald Trump to do something about it, but Trump didn’t oblige.
Mamdani’s critics have accused him of promoting antisemitism with his anti-Israel rhetoric. His administration released a plan to combat antisemitism earlier this week, but Jewish groups said his effort was in vain due to his continued criticism of the Israeli government.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
