Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing sharp criticism from a leading Jewish advocacy organization, which accused him of echoing Hamas propaganda after he denounced Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in what the group described as a brazen “televised political spectacle.”
In a social media video message, Mamdani conceded that he has no legal power to detain Netanyahu when the Israeli prime minister visits New York. Even so, he used the address to call Netanyahu a “war criminal” and declare that Israel’s leader is “not welcome” in the city.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity connected to Israel’s war in Gaza.
“That is a profound misuse of the office entrusted to him by all New Yorkers,” the Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a statement responding to the mayor’s remarks.
The organization argued that Mamdani, after admitting New York City lacks the authority to enforce the ICC warrant, still turned the issue into a political performance. The group also faulted him for failing to mention Hamas or the October 7 attacks that set off Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center further accused Mamdani of repeatedly targeting Israel and using the influence of the mayor’s office to give legitimacy to language it said alienates the Jewish state and fuels division among New Yorkers.
The group urged Mamdani to concentrate on the needs of New York City residents, including Jewish New Yorkers, instead of positioning himself as a voice for a broader anti-Israel movement.
“At a time when Jewish New Yorkers are experiencing alarming levels of antisemitism, harassment and intimidation, they deserve a mayor who refrains from fomenting hatred against the world’s only Jewish country while maintaining the fiction that this is not anti-Jewish,” the statement said.
“New Yorkers elected a mayor, not a prosecutor of foreign leaders. Mayor Mamdani should spend less time trying to demonize only one leader and one country from City Hall and more time protecting the New Yorkers he was elected to serve,” the statement concluded.
Mayor Mamdani’s office did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
