Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked pushback from foreign and local leaders as he delivered a defiant speech at the United Nations in Manhattan on Friday while protesters gathered on the streets outside.
Netanyahu’s visit has become a flashpoint in this year’s mayoral election, with Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani issuing a statement condemning the Israeli leader over the war in Gaza while Mayor Adams planned to meet with Netanyahu later in the day.
Mamdani, who has vowed if elected to order the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu on war crime charges leveled against him by the International Criminal Court, noted in a statement that the prime minister was delivering his speech before “an institution which has concluded his government has committed a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.”
“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,” Mamdani said.
As soon as the prime minister took the podium in the UN building’s Assembly Hall, a large group of foreign delegates walked out in protest of the war in Gaza, which according to the Gaza Health Ministry has killed more than 60,000.
Israel launched the campaign against Hamas in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack in Israel, and Netanyahu in his speech addressed efforts underway globally and at the UN to press for a Palestinian state.
“It will be a mark of shame on all you,” Netanyahu said at the UN, saying recognizing Palestinian statehood would be akin to giving al-Qaeda a sovereign land next to Manhattan after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Outside the UN building, a group of about 100 pro-Israel advocates gathered to call on the Israeli government for the release of the hostages Hamas terrorists are still holding captive in Gaza.
NYPD was bracing Friday morning for a much larger crowd of pro-Palestine protesters to arrive outside the UN building who started marching from Times Square as Netanyahu began his speech, in which he railed against countries that have recently recognized Palestine statehood.
Mamdani, in his statement, also turned his ire to his opponents in November’s election, Mayor Adams and Andrew Cuomo, who have been far more supportive of Netanyahu amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
“Eric Adams will greet Netanyahu as a friend. Andrew Cuomo proudly served on his legal defense team. Both have jockeyed for the approval of Donald Trump, who has sent billions of our taxpayer dollars to support these war crimes,” said Mamdani, who’s polling as the favorite to become the city’s next mayor. “A mayor cannot end these atrocities. But they can speak for the values of this city: a commitment to human rights for all people, including Palestinians, and a yearning for peace and justice.”
Adams was at the UN listening to Netanyahu’s speech.
According to his office, Adams was expected to meet privately with the prime minister after his speech.
Cuomo was at one point was part of a legal team to defend Netanyahu against the war crime charges. His campaign didn’t immediately return a request for comment on what he was doing during Netanyahu’s visit.
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