Mamdani Marks Oct. 7 by Accusing Israel of “Ongoing Genocide”

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack by naming the Israeli dead and then accusing the Israeli government of an “ongoing genocide” in Gaza.

“This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers,” he wrote Wednesday on his official account. “It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of Oct. 7. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others.” He said the city grieved with neighbors who still carry that loss. The next sentences changed the subject. “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.” He said more than 1,400 Palestinians had been killed since what he called a “so-called ceasefire,” and that “our tax dollars fund these war crimes.” He closed by rejecting “a world in which occupation and apartheid continue.” CBS News noted that the 74,000 figure is the tally published by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

The post drew immediate criticism from Democrats as well as Israeli officials. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida accused Mamdani of “desecrating the memory of murdered, innocent Jews.” Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey said the mayor was blaming the victims of the Oct. 7 attack. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop called the statement “inappropriate and unnecessarily inflammatory.” Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, again invited Mamdani to watch “Bearing Witness to the October 7th Massacre,” the 47-minute film compiled from Hamas footage of the attack.

Wednesday night did not settle the argument. Mamdani went to a vigil in Union Square organized by Israeli peace activists. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators interrupted it and called him a traitor to their cause. The New York Times reported he left without addressing the crowd, looking ashen, and walked to an SUV at 8:50 p.m. with his security detail. Mark Treyger, chief executive of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said New Yorkers were looking for leadership that “brings people together, lowers the temperature and makes everyone feel respected.”

President Trump marked the same anniversary on the South Lawn after a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I spoke with Bibi Netanyahu and I wished him well and I wished the people of Israel well,” he told reporters. “That was a horrible day, a horrible tragedy — and the other side is paying a very big price for what they did on October 7th, believe me.” On Truth Social he wrote that three years ago the world witnessed “one of the darkest and most evil days in the history of Israel,” and that innocent men, women, and children were murdered, kidnapped, and subjected to horrors by Hamas. He said the United States would not forget.