Zohran Mamdani Trashes Israel On Anniversary Of October 7th

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani used the third anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel to mourn the victims while also unleashing a sweeping condemnation of the Israeli government, accusing it of genocide, war crimes, occupation and apartheid.

Mamdani released the statement Wednesday, three years after Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 others hostage.

His remarks quickly drew backlash from the Anti-Defamation League, which accused the mayor of turning a day of mourning into another attack on Israel.

Mamdani opened his statement by acknowledging the Hamas attack and its victims.

“This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss.”

But he then pivoted sharply to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

“The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing. Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them—all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes.”

This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss.

The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians—including more than 21,000 children. Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing. Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them – all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes.

Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment.

To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) October 7, 2026

Mamdani continued by accusing Israel of maintaining an occupation and apartheid while blaming the federal government for continuing to supply weapons.

“Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment.”

“To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity.”

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The statement drew an immediate rebuke from Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

“Mayor Mamdani, not once do you say ‘Jews.’ On Oct. 7, Hamas-led attackers murdered civilians, committed sexual violence, mutilated bodies and took hostages. You are weaponizing a day meant for mourning the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to recycle your usual antizionist talking points. The city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel deserves a mayor who can honor the dead without exploiting them,” Greenblatt posted on social media.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also pushed back on efforts to shift attention away from the Oct. 7 attack itself.

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“I think that attack will go down in history as one of the most brutal, abhorrent incidences in the history of the region and certainly the world,” Hochul said. “So that was an unprovoked attacked on innocent civilians, many of whom were young people dancing at a music festival, or parents stripped from their kids. So I think that that day speaks for itself.”

Hochul said the anniversary remains deeply painful for New York families directly affected by the attack.

“I don’t think anything should diminish from this day, this three-year occurrence, because there are a lot of New York families like Omer Neutra’s parents from Long Island who are having their wounds reopened as they think about their son kidnapped, that they’ve been praying for for hundreds of days – I met with them many times- only to find out he’d actually been lost on that first day. So it is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions on so many levels,” Hochul said.

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Zohran Mamdani has long been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel among prominent Democratic politicians and has repeatedly described Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly criticized Mamdani’s rhetoric, while Jewish groups have repeatedly challenged the mayor over his language surrounding Israel and the war.

The Gaza death toll cited by Mamdani comes from Palestinian health authorities in the territory. Those figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

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