New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a video of himself planting an olive tree with Palestinian families from Gaza at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, in an apparent rebuke to Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before the Israeli prime minister’s address Thursday to the U.N. General Assembly.
“May peace be our future,” the caption read. Israeli settler violence has increasingly disrupted olive harvests in the West Bank, a critical economic lifeline for Palestinians.
Last night I planted an olive tree at Gracie Mansion with Palestinian families from Gaza. May peace be our future. pic.twitter.com/3snGtcAA0J
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) September 24, 2026
Mamdani and Netanyahu have a history. The first-term mayor pledged repeatedly during his campaign last year to arrest the prime minister in New York on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. Neither the United States nor Israel are parties to the tribunal. Mamdani later backtracked, saying he had concluded he lacked the legal authority to make the arrest.
Netanyahu in his address Thursday called Mamdani the “antisemitic mayor of New York,” and criticized his claim that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, his relationship with the left-wing podcaster Hasan Piker and his wife’s social media presence.
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The post With Netanyahu at the U.N., Mamdani plants an olive tree with Palestinians appeared first on Washington Post.
