Micheál Martin rejects Binyamin Netanyahu’s criticism of New York mayor Mamdani

Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected the labelling by Israel prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Zohran Mamdani as a supporter of Hamas , before meeting the New York mayor at an Irish community hub in Long Island City.

Netanyahu, who delivered a series of provocative insults directed at Mamdani before his address at the UN in New York on Thursday, posted a message on X in which he said: “Shame on you for the supporting the Hamas monsters who butchered our people. Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews.”

Speaking outside the Irish consulate at the MetLife building on Wednesday morning, in advance of the second day of his United Nations General Assembly engagements, Martin said that Mamdani had been given a strong mandate by voters in the city.