Netanyahu expected to 'berate' Zohran Mamdani in UN speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to use his UN address on Thursday to berate New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for calling him a war criminal, according to Reuters.

Addressing the mayor directly in a video statement this week, Netanyahu said he was going to New York “to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers” and “to tell the truth about you.” He falsely accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas fighters.

New York's democratic socialist mayor has described Netanyahu as "the architect of a horrific genocide against Palestinians", and previously said he would like to comply by the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister.

Netanyahu's speech in New York is being seen by many Israeli commentators as a campaign address, with Israel's elections fast approaching.

“He's not really speaking to the UN, he's speaking to the Israeli public,” former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, who expects Netanyahu's address to resemble a “campaign speech", told Reuters.