Zohran Mamdani, the front-runner for mayor of New York, denounces Netanyahu's pledge to exterminate terrorists but declines to criticize Hamas.

 

New York Democratic mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani (pictured top right) has declined to explicitly denounce Hamas when asked to support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to eliminate the group and secure the release of all remaining hostages.  

Mamdani's comments followed Netanyahu's defiant address at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, where the Prime Minister declared that Israel must "finish the job" in its conflict against Hamas.  

"I am not going to echo the words of Benjamin Netanyahu," Mamdani told reporters when asked if he agreed with the Israeli PM’s position that Hamas is a terrorist organization that must be destroyed.

Instead, the mayoral nominee offered his own statement rooted in a principle of universality. 

"I can, however, share my own words and say them right here, which is that my politics is built on a universality... Everyone for everyone," he said, citing the words of hostage families.

Mamdani went on to criticize Netanyahu’s conduct in the conflict.

“What has been so infuriating to me and so many New Yorkers, frankly, is Benjamin Netanyahu’s use of the hostages as a justification to continue a war that has only continued to endanger the lives of those very hostages, as well as of so many Palestinians,” Mamdani stated.

The exchange comes after Netanyahu warned that Hamas would "repeat the atrocities" of Oct. 7, 2023, if not eradicated, and as he rejected the recognition of a Palestinian state.

Mamdani also sharply criticized Mayor Eric Adams for attending Netanyahu’s address in person, even as dozens of delegates staged a walkout.  

“To have a mayor who went to the United Nations to watch his address and then thank Benjamin Netanyahu for defending the Western world and our way of life... I can’t even begin to explain the offense that that brings to New Yorkers across the five boroughs,” Mamdani said.

“How can we describe the killing of a child once an hour, every hour for close to two years as a defense of our way of life? That is not a way of life that any of us practice in this city," he added.

The mayoral front-runner has a history of vocal criticism toward Israel and Netanyahu. He has previously characterized Israel as an apartheid state and supported the controversial BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions).  

Mamdani has also vowed that, if elected, he would order the NYPD to arrest the Israeli PM should he come to New York City.  

The socialist candidate recently signaled his intention to stop using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism if elected, arguing that it conflates legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism. Antisemitism, per the IHRA definition, is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.”