Mamdani criticized by fellow Democrats for statement mourning Oct. 7 attacks while condemning Israel

A statement by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani that recognized three years since Hamas' "horrific" attack on Israel — and extensively criticized Israel's "ongoing genocide" in the Gaza Strip — has drawn fury from some Democrats.

Wednesday's statement by Mamdani began by calling it a "profoundly painful" day for many New Yorkers, noting Hamas' "horrific war crimes" on Oct. 7, 2023, including the killing of about 1,200 people in Israel and the taking of more than 250 hostages. He added: "We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss."

"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," Mamdani said.

Several Democratic elected officials blasted Mamdani's statement, arguing it was too focused on Israel rather than Hamas.

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 "blam[ing] the victims" of the Oct. 7 attack, and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop called the statement "inappropriate and unnecessarily inflammatory."

Rep. Daniel Goldman — who lost a Democratic primary in his Manhattan and Brooklyn district to Mamdani-endorsed Brad Lander earlier this year — called the mayor's message "reprehensible."

Lander, the Democratic nominee in Goldman's deep-blue district, wrote a statement of his own on Tuesday that condemned Hamas but argued against the "flattening of empathy."

Mamdani also faced pushback from the Anti-Defamation League, whose CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, is a frequent critic of the mayor. Greenblatt wrote on social media that in Mamdani's statement, "not once do you say 'Jews.'"

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called Mamdani's statement an "outrageous & disgusting rant," while Ofir Akunis, Israeli consul general in New York, called it a "disgrace, shame, and insult to the memory of those who were murdered."

Mamdani's stance on Israel has drawn intense scrutiny — and applause from his allies — since he began his unexpected ascent to the mayor's office.

Ahead of the 2025 Democratic mayoral primary, Mamdani vowed that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited New York City, he would seek Netanyahu's arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant accusing him of war crimes.

When Netanyahu visited the city last month to address the United Nations General Assembly, he accused Mamdani of antisemitism and said "many Jews no longer feel safe in New York."