Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter arrives to give a statement to the media at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, after his son, an IDF soldier, was hospitalized in critical condition after being seriously wounded in a car-ramming attack the previous day, September 24, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani blasted by US, Israel, and ADL for using October 7 anniversary to push accusations of genocide in Gaza.
By World Israel News Staff
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, excoriated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday, accusing him of defending Palestinian terrorism and promoting antisemitism after the mayor used the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre to accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Leiter delivered his condemnation while sitting beside his critically injured son, who is on life support after being struck by a Palestinian terrorist in a car-ramming attack.
“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,” the ambassador wrote on X.
“It’s actually hard to find a sentence in Mamdani’s post that isn’t a lie,” he continued.
“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 US, 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 rejected Mamdani’s accusations of genocide, noting that Hamas was responsible for deliberately targeting civilians and initiating the war with its October 7, 2023, massacre.
“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,” he declared.
The ambassador slammed Hamas for exploiting Gaza’s civilian population and diverting humanitarian assistance, and argued that Mamdani was amplifying the terrorist organization’s propaganda.
“Hamas knows that its allies, including Zohran Mamdani, will regurgitate its lies, demonizing Israel and endangering Jews everywhere,” Leiter wrote.
The unusually personal confrontation came as Leiter’s family continues to endure the consequences of Palestinian terrorism.
His 38-year-old son, Neria, an IDF reservist, suffered severe head injuries when a Palestinian terrorist rammed a vehicle into a group of Israeli security personnel at a checkpoint along Route 443 on September 23.
Neria underwent emergency brain surgery at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. In an update Wednesday, Leiter said his son had begun breathing independently but remained unconscious and in life-threatening condition.
The family had already lost another son, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, a father of six who was killed fighting Hamas in Gaza in November 2023.
The diplomatic confrontation erupted after Mamdani issued a statement Wednesday commemorating the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre.
“This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7,” Mamdani wrote.
“We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss.”
However, most of the mayor’s statement focused on accusations against Israel.
“The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” Mamdani wrote, accusing the Israeli government of carrying out an “ongoing genocide” in Gaza that had killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, including over 21,000 children.
He also accused Israeli forces of attacking ambulances, journalists and residential buildings, and criticized Washington’s continued military assistance to Israel.
“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,” Mamdani stated.
Mamdani’s remarks triggered condemnation from several other senior Israeli and American officials.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described the mayor’s statement as an “outrageous & disgusting rant,” arguing that the anniversary should have been dedicated to remembering the victims of Hamas’s massacre.
“God help the people of New York for electing a jihadist sympathizer!” Huckabee wrote.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon similarly accused Mamdani of exploiting the anniversary to promote anti-Israel propaganda.
“‘Mamdani-ism’ – an attempt to hijack the anniversary of October 7 and turn it into yet another propaganda attack against Israel,” Danon said, comparing the mayor’s approach to using the anniversary of September 11 to mourn al-Qaeda terrorists.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt criticized Mamdani for failing to use the words “Jews” or “Jewish people” anywhere in his statement.
Rabbi Marc Schneier accused the mayor of appropriating the trauma of Jewish New Yorkers rather than allowing them a day of mourning.
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