Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his Thursday address to the United Nations General Assembly to directly confront New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, telling world leaders that Jewish residents "no longer feel safe" in the city under his leadership.
Netanyahu's remarks, delivered during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in Manhattan, came as dozens of delegates staged a walkout and protesters gathered outside UN headquarters. Mamdani had planted an olive tree with Palestinian families at Gracie Mansion the night before the speech, a gesture he described as a call for peace.
Netanyahu rejected accusations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, calling the claim "the greatest lie of the century." He also defended Israel's strikes on Iran, saying the decision to hit Iranian nuclear facilities was "one of the easiest" of his tenure. The speech followed a video address from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was denied a visa to enter the United States and addressed the assembly remotely.
Outside the chamber, the demonstrations drew a notably high-profile crowd. Actresses Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder were both detained during the anti-Netanyahu rally, and the Israeli leader used part of his speech to dismiss the protesters as "phony," questioning why the same crowd had stayed silent when Iranian security forces killed thousands of demonstrators in January.
Mamdani fired back in a statement, dismissing Netanyahu's speech as "baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide against Palestinians."Â Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett separately accused Netanyahu of "whitewashing" Qatar's role in the region by declining to designate it a state sponsor of terrorism.
The exchange lands weeks before Israel's next election, which will decide whether Netanyahu remains in office, and as Mamdani's foreign policy posture continues to draw national attention beyond City Hall.
