Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani chose the second anniversary of Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack to blast Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government for launching a “genocidal war” in Gaza.
Mamdani also argued the United States “has been complicit through it all” in a statement he posted to his X account.
The left-wing Democratic nominee found some space to condemn Hamas for carrying out “a horrific war crime” that killed 1,200 Israelis.
Another 250 Israelis were kidnapped to the Palestinian enclave.
“In the aftermath of that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war,” he said while adding that 67,000 people have been killed – a figure used by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
“Every day in Gaza has become a place where grief itself has run out of language,” he also said.
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“I mourn these lives and pray for the families that have been shattered. Our government has been complicit through it all.”
Mamdani also called for the “occupation and apartheid” to end and that peace needs to be reached “through diplomacy, not war crimes.”
The Queens state assemblyman has previously faced backlash for his stance on Israel.
Earlier this year, he skipped out on a state resolution that celebrated the Jewish state on its 77th anniversary.
He also declined to sign onto another resolution that denounced the Holocaust, though a campaign spokesperson claimed he supported it by a voice vote.
He also refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, but as a “state with equal rights.”
