A prominent Jewish rights group has accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of peddling Hamas propaganda and staging a "televised political spectacle" with his remarks targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center stated that Mamdani, in a video address, misused his office by branding Netanyahu a "war criminal" who is "not welcome" in New York City, despite admitting he lacked the authority to act on the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for the Israeli leader. The ICC issued the warrant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.
"After acknowledging that New York City has no independent legal authority to execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant, the mayor nevertheless chose to transform that legal reality into a televised political spectacle," the center said in a statement. The group also criticized Mamdani for not mentioning Hamas or the October 7 attacks that preceded Israel's military offensive.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center accused Mamdani of consistently targeting Israel while using his mayoral prestige to legitimize rhetoric that isolates the Jewish state and exacerbates divisions within New York. The organization urged the mayor to focus on local issues affecting New Yorkers, including the Jewish community, rather than acting as a spokesperson for anti-Israel sentiments.
"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 read. "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."
Mamdani's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza. Protesters were also seen hanging "Wanted for Crimes Against Humanity" posters with Netanyahu's portrait.
