Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon decried a Wednesday statement released by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in which he accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a “war criminal” responsible for an alleged “genocide against the Palestinian people.”
“Zohran Mamdani, ENOUGH. Enough with the blood libels. Enough with the attacks on Jewish organizations,” Danon proclaimed. “You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas’ propaganda. Do your job!”
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett similarly condemned Mamdani’s accusatory statement, asserting that the mayor has placed himself “on the wrong side of history – alongside those who deny October 7th and protested on campuses on October 8th in support of genocidal Hamas.”
In a post on X/Twitter, Bennett pointed out that Mamdani neglected to mention Hamas when discussing Israel’s actions in Gaza after the October 7 massacre.
“Since October 7th, Israel has been fighting a just war against a terrorist organization that murdered children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children, that maimed, that kidnapped, that raped and used sexual violence as a weapon,” he stated. “Your silence on their crimes is deafening.”
Mayor Mamdani, your antisemitic libels against Israel’s prime minister, its commanders, and its soldiers place you on the wrong side of history – alongside those who deny October 7th and protested on campuses on October 8th in support of genocidal Hamas.
You’re continuing a long… https://t.co/VkzWoVtfVh pic.twitter.com/IPVmJri9n0
— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) July 22, 2026
Bennet advised Mandani to find a different way to advance his political ambitions, rather than “attacking Jews and condemning us for defending ourselves.”
Eisenkot decries Mamdani’s statement as ‘pure antisemitism, with no basis in fact’
Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot described Mamdani’s statement as dangerous, inflammatory, and “pure antisemitism, with no basis in fact.”
“In the face of terrorism and the darkest forces of hatred – which New York City knows all too well from the horrors of September 11 – truth must always prevail.”
“On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a murderous attack on Israeli civilians – men, women, and children. It was the deadliest act of terrorism and antisemitic violence against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Eisenkot stated.
He decried Mamdani’s “reckless distortion of the truth,” asserting that “no one can rewrite history and turn the aggressor into the victim.”
At 6:29 a.m. on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a murderous attack on Israeli civilians – men, women, and children. It was the deadliest act of terrorism and antisemitic violence against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Among those murdered, burned, raped, and slaughtered…
— Gadi Eisenkot – גדי איזנקוט (@gadi_eisenkot) July 22, 2026
“Nothing can obscure the atrocities committed by this abhorrent terrorist organization against civilians in their homes, in their own country,” Eisenkot added. “We will not allow anyone to question the right of the people of Israel to live in security in their own country.”
He further defended the IDF’s conduct, making clear that attempts to equate Israel’s military with a terrorist organization are unacceptable.
“The IDF operates according to clear values and in accordance with international law, with a deep conviction in the justice of its cause,” he elaborated.
