Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the unusual step of weighing in on New York City’s mayoral race this week by dismissing Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani’s socialist policy proposals as “nonsense.”
Netanyahu appeared on “The Full Send Podcast” with the Nelk Boys on Monday for a wide-ranging interview covering Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, Iran, and President Donald Trump’s dietary preferences. When podcast host Aaron “Steiny” Steinberg brought up Mamdani, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister took a swipe at the 33-year-old assemblyman’s policy agenda.
“A lot of people have been taken in by this nonsense,” Netanyahu told the podcasters. “You want to defund the police? You want to have people go into stores and rob them and be free, you think that creates a good society?”
“You want to crush all enterprise? You want to tax people to death? I mean, that’s a one-term effort,” he said. “But you know, sometimes you have to get mugged by reality to understand how stupid that is.”
Born in Uganda to an Indian family and raised in New York City, Mamdani serves as a state assemblyman representing Queens. He stunned the political establishment by defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary despite being vastly outspent and lacking major endorsements early in the race.
Mamdani’s campaign gained momentum through social media, accumulating over a million followers across Instagram and TikTok. He raised $8 million through more than 20,000 individual donors thanks to support from fellow progressives and Israeli critics Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
During the campaign, Mamdani pledged “affordability reform” which included freezing rent increases on rent-stabilized apartments, making city buses free, establishing city-run grocery stores, and implementing universal childcare. He reportedly plans to fund these initiatives by raising the corporate tax rate from 7.25% to 11.5% to match New Jersey’s rate and imposing a 2% income tax increase on city residents earning more than $1 million annually.
Mamdani has been a vocal critic of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which he has labeled “genocide.” He has said that as mayor, New York City would arrest Netanyahu if he visited, citing the International Criminal Court’s warrant for the Israeli leader.
In response, Netanyahu said he was “not happy” with Mamdani’s primary victory but dismissed his candidacy as a temporary “folly.”
“I’m less concerned with it because I think if we can speak the truth to the young people of America, you know they wise up pretty quickly,” he said.
Source link
