Israel’s US envoy calls Mamdani a ‘defender of Palestinian terrorism’ over NYC mayor’s Oct. 7 statement

US Ambassador Yechiel Leiter calls New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani a “defender of Palestinian terrorism, a promoter of antisemitism, and an advocate of anti-Americanism” over his statement marking October 7, 2023.

In the statement, Mamdani mourned those killed and condemned Hamas, but the bulk of the statement is focused on Israel, accusing the Jewish state of genocide and apartheid.

“I have to take a moment from my son’s bedside, on life support after being struck by a Palestinian terrorist, to respond to the dangerous lies being spewed by @NYCMayor,” Leiter writes on X, referring to his son Neria, who was seriously injured in a car-ramming attack in the West Bank.

“It’s actually hard to find a sentence in Mamdani’s post that isn’t a lie. Paying lip service to the victims of October 7 just to spread blood libels about Israel might play nicely to the red-green/communist-Islamist alliance that he promotes in the U.S, but those of us who know better see his perverted language for what it is. This man is a defender of Palestinian terrorism, a promoter of antisemitism, and an advocate of anti-Americanism. Even today, October 7, he can’t help but attack the Jewish state with absurd accusations and outright propaganda,” Leiter says.

“Let’s be clear: the only attempted genocide in this conflict was perpetrated by the barbarians he supports, Hamas, who butchered, raped, and murdered in the most horrific ways imaginable,” Leiter says.

I have to take a moment from my son’s bedside, on life support after being struck by a Palestinian terrorist, to respond to the dangerous lies being spewed by @NYCMayor.

It’s actually hard to find a sentence in Mamdani’s post that isn’t a lie.

Paying lip service to the…

— Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (@yechielleiter) October 7, 2026