On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before the U.N. General Assembly, and included his take on Gaza, Hamas, and the war with Iran, but it was his harsh criticism of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani that got under the left wing media's skin. Thursday night on CNN's NewsNight with Abby Phillip, the host couldn't understand why Netanyahu would spend time attacking Mamdani, despite presenting several obvious motivating factors.
Phillip began the segment by citing two legitimate reasons for Netanyahu to have called out Mamdani. "New York City's Mayor Mamdani doubled down earlier this week, calling Israeli Prime Minister a war criminal again. Now you might remember that the Mayor pledged to arrest Netanyahu over a warrant that was issued by the International Criminal Court. He later backed down after concluding, correctly, that the city does not have the authority to do that."
She then played a clip of Netanyahu's speech.
NETANYAHU CLIP: Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York. They talk to me. They tell me, this isn't the city we remember. It changed so quickly.
Netanyahu was most likely referring to the horrific increase in anti-Semitic crimes in the city since Mamdani was sworn in on January 1st, but none of it phased Phillip, who would set up leftist Leigh McGowan, who went after both Netanyahu and Israel.
PHILLIP: It is such an interesting choice, Leigh, for him to choose Mamdani of all people to single out in the speech. He even brought up Hasan Piker. I mean, in the big scheme of challenges that Israel faces around the globe right now, it was a choice.
McGOWAN: Trump and Netanyahu in many ways are very similar. They both say what they want to say when they want to say it. They both know who's making the news and who to mention....
But what the IDF is doing to the people of Palestine is very, very problematic, and to stand there and to call out a Muslim mayor in the city that mayor is the mayor of, I think is incredibly rude and incredibly distasteful.
And I'm kind of tired of the idea that if you call out the atrocities that are happening in Gaza, you're somehow pro-Hamas or anti-Semitic. If anything, what he did today was Islamophobic.
Conservative radio host Jason Rantz and McGowan would go back and forth over the genocide issue, before he offered his opinion on why the Prime Minister went after Mamdani, only to have Phillip come to the Mayor's defense, of course.
RANTZ: The reason why he went after Mamdani, I think, is obvious. You brought it up in your intro. I mean, he said, I'm going to arrest you if you come into my city. That's why he did what he did.
PHILLIP: Okay. I mean --
RANTZ: And that's a fair point.
PHILLIP: He also acknowledged that he couldn't do it.
She then played another Netanyahu clip, and defended Mamdani yet again.
NETANYAHU VIDEO: You falsely, repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide.
Here's a simple truth. Israel didn't commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide. And that's exactly what Mr. Mamdani's Hamas buddies would have done to us had we not stopped them. They would have killed every last one of us.
PHILLIP: This accusation that Mamdani has Hamas buddies is completely unfounded. He's condemned Hamas repeatedly.
I guess Phillip had no idea that while running for mayor, Mamdani refused to say Hamas should lay down their arms, although he flip flopped one day later. He also invited Mahmoud Khalil, who was facing deportation by the Trump administration, which labeled him a Hamas supporter, to dinner at Gracie Mansion in March, and said he was "honored" to have him. He also skipped the Israel Day Parade.
McGowan soon made a totally outrageous, unsubstantiated accusation, that naturally went unchallenged by Phillip.
McGOWAN: It is terrible what happened on October 7th. Any war is terrible. But I've also watched images of IDF soldiers telling someone they're free to go and then shooting them point-blank in the back of the head while they're carrying their baby.
Phillip simply changed the subject to Netanyahu's low popularity in a recent Pew Poll, and Dina Doll of the Meidas Touch Network entered the fray.
DOLL: The definition of genocidal intent comes from his own words, his fellow Israeli officials' own words. I don't know why people here want to give them cover when they were willing to say their genocidal intent.
Did Phillip ask Doll to back up her claim with a quote? Or the false accusation she would make that, Arab Christians can't serve in the military? Nope. For Phillip it was mission accomplished. This is CNN!
