Netanyahu lashes out at New York mayor: ‘Shame on you for distorting the facts’

In an ongoing public feud, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing him of antisemitism and “distorting the facts.”

“Shame on you! Shame on you for distorting the facts,” Netanyahu said.

“Shame on you for turning victim and aggressor upside down. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth, Mr. Mamdani. Since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York. They tell me this is not the city we remember,” he added.

Defending Israel’s conduct during the three-year war in Gaza, Netanyahu said: “Here is a simple truth: Israel did not commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide, and that is precisely what Mr. Mamdani’s Hamas friends would have done to us had we not stopped them.”

An independent United Nations inquiry and numerous human rights organizations have accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

Before departing for New York, Netanyahu said he would come to the UN to “tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I will tell the truth about you.”

Earlier this week, Mamdani doubled down on his criticism of Netanyahu, calling him a war criminal, while acknowledging he did not have the authority to arrest the Israeli leader while he was in New York, despite having made the promise during his campaign.