On Sept. 26 New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued a statement reading: “Of all the world leaders we have greeted this week, I was particularly proud to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his address to the United Nations, to thank him for defending the Western world and our way of life.” While many of the UN delegates staged a walk-out as Netanyahu began to speak, Mayor Adams rearranged his schedule in order to attend the speech.
Mayor Adams already has a federal indictment from one year ago for what federal prosecutors characterized as “corrupt relationships with rich foreigners.” Whatever the merits of the government’s case, Adams certainly demonstrated a new low in “corrupt relationships with rich foreigners” when he “warmly embraced” Netanyahu and his wife Sara.
Meanwhile, very loud protesters gathered outside Netanyahu’s hotel in the very early morning hours on Sept. 26, banging drums and blowing car horns with the obvious intent to prevent the Prime Minister from sleeping. Demonstrators held signs denouncing “Genocide,” and can be seen in social media video clips. Several of the protesters were arrested by the NYPD outside the hotel near the UN building.
New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani slammed both Eric Adams and the Israeli leader in a social media post, stating: “This morning, Benjamin Netanyahu will address the United Nations—an institution which has concluded his government is committing a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. A mayor cannot end these atrocities. But they can speak for the values of this city: a commitment to human rights for all people, including Palestinians, and a yearning for peace and justice.” During a press conference Mamdani stated that Adams’s expression of gratitude to Netanyahu was offensive to New Yorkers. Mamdani told reporters, “To have a mayor who went to the United Nations to watch his address and then thank Benjamin Netanyahu for defending the Western world and our way of life. Those are the words that Eric Adams shared. I can’t even begin to explain the offense that that brings to New Yorkers across the five boroughs. How can we describe the killing of a child, once an hour, every hour for close to two years, as a defense of our way of life?”
