New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under fire over his plans for the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel.
The mayor plans to attend the "Vigil in Remembrance of October 7th," an event to honor the Israeli victims of the attack, which claimed the lives of over 1,200 people. Afterward, he will meet with Palestinian New York residents, a decision that has raised eyebrows.
It should be noted that the Consul General of Israel in New York, Ofir Akunis, publicly invited Mayor Zohran Mamdani to a screening of the horror film from October 7th, organized by the Israeli consulate in the city. The invitation was delivered in a speech at the official memorial ceremony commemorating the October 7th massacre, which was attended by about 1,000 people, as well as in a letter Akunis sent to the mayor.
Akunis wrote a letter to Mamdani: "With your rhetoric against the State of Israel being the fundamental reason for the rise of antisemitism in New York City, it is even more crucial now for the safety and continued existence of the Jewish homeland. Perhaps after watching this film, you will truly understand why the Jewish State is so important, why we will continue to defend ourselves, no matter against whom, and no matter when."
In a speech, Akunis also addressed leaders who continue to criticize Israel: "Three years after the massacre, this is an opportunity to ask the leaders of the world—presidents, prime ministers, public officials, and mayors who continue to criticize us: What would you do if those savage people invaded your country or your city and brutally murdered innocent civilians? What would you do if a member of your family, your son, your daughter, were burned before your eyes?"
The consul-general added: "We are done listening to your empty criticism, and I will say this loud and clear: we are not impressed by your cowardly actions, by your flamboyance and weakness. We are not impressed by your approach, which is aimed at appeasing your new political base."
Mamdani marked the third anniversary of the Hamas attack by condemning the mass killings and accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza in response.
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
"On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others,” he said in a written statement. He continued, noting that the suffering "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."
He also noted that New Yorkers were mourning “all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes.”