'Lies To Sanitise Genocide': Mamdani Hits Back At Netanyahu After UN Criticism

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Thursday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using his address at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to repeat what he called "baseless lies meant to sanitise his genocide of Palestinians." 

"As he has done time and again, Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitise his genocide of Palestinians. Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity," as per the statement. 

Mamdani's remarks came after Netanyahu criticised him during his UNGA address, alleging that Jewish residents in New York felt increasingly unsafe following his election. 

Earlier, Mamdani called on the US federal government to execute the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu, while reiterating that the Israeli leader is "not welcome" in New York City.

Netanyahu accused Mamdani of supporting individuals and positions that he described as hostile towards Israel and Jewish communities, and rejected allegations of genocide against Israel.

"Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York. They talk to me. They tell me, "This isn't the city we remember. It changed so quickly." You praise criminals convicted of supporting Hamas. You count as friends people like Hasan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11. "America deserved 9/11." Some friends you have. You invited to your home a Palestinian journalist who filmed Hamas terrorists beating and torturing Israeli hostages, and later admitted that he refused to publish the videos in order to protect, you guessed it, the terrorists," he further said.

He further accused Mamdani of associating with people who have expressed support for Hamas and alleged that he had attempted to prevent him from addressing the UNGA.

"Your wife liked a post praising the October 7 massacre. She liked another post saying Tel Aviv shouldn't exist. You refuse to condemn any of that. You falsely and repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide. Mr. Mamdani, you try to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can't silence me. You can't silence the truth. And here's the simple truth. Here's a simple truth: Israel didn't commit genocide; Israel prevented genocide," he said. 

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