NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tried to thread a needle on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks by condemning Hamas’ “horrific war crimes” and denouncing Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza. It did not go well.

Instead, his comments further angered some Jewish critics who consider his strong opposition to Israel antisemitic, and pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted a Wednesday night vigil for victims of Hamas' attack to confront the mayor and cast him as a traitor to their cause.

Mamdani, a Democrat and the city's first Muslim mayor, has long been a fierce defender of Palestinian human rights and is one of the country's most prominent political critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. His stance has drawn scrutiny in a city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel, while at times some on the far-left have bashed him for not doing enough to hold Israel to account.

On Thursday, Mamdani appeared to take the protest in stride, telling reporters: “I am the mayor of New York City and this is what I signed up for.”

A parsed statement

The maelstrom began when Mamdani commemorated the victims of Hamas' surprise attack on Israel with a statement that began with a solemn recognition of the “unthinkable loss” suffered by Israelis but then castigated Israel's military response.

“The suffering did not begin nor end that day,” the statement read. “It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians — including more than 21,000 children.”

The statement reignited criticism that Mamdani harbors antisemitic views — a claim he has vehemently denied — and was blaming Israel for the attack.

“This is a reprehensible statement on the anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack by a Palestinian terrorist organization against innocent Israelis,” U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, a Jewish Democrat in New York, wrote on X. “In the guise of ‘grieving’ with those mourning that day, Mayor Mamdani asserts as fact hotly disputed allegations that he knows full well will offend and further upset those same people he pretends to grieve with.”

Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York, who had invited Mamdani to a Wednesday screening of footage documenting the attack, called the mayor's statement a “disgrace, shame, and insult to the memory of those who were murdered on October 7.” Akunis later posted an image of an empty chair reserved with a placard for the mayor along with the caption “guess who didn't show up.”

Simmering tensions

Mamdani, who took office in January, has moved to assuage concerns that his criticism of Israel does not amount to antisemitism, courting high-profile Jewish political allies and late last month debuting a sweeping plan to address antisemitism and hate crimes in the city.

At the same time, he has continued to employ, and defend, heated rhetoric toward Israel, which includes calling for the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he calls a “war criminal” and “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.”

Netanyahu, in an address at the United Nations General Assembly last month, called Mamdani “the antisemitic mayor of New York” and charged that “many Jews no longer feel safe in New York.”

Mamdani also marked the anniversary by attending a candlelight vigil at Union Square in Manhattan organized by Israelis For Peace, which describes itself as a group of Israeli anti-occupation activists. The vigil was disrupted by protesters who waved Palestinian flags and chanted.

Mamdani, who did not speak at the vigil, appeared somber while protesters booed and yelled: “Zohran, your hands are red!”

At one point, Brad Lander, a Jewish politician who struck up an alliance with Mamdani when they were both running for mayor last year, denounced the violence overseas, saying “no matter what country or nationality or religion, every mother, every mother gives birth to her children and wants the best for them, wants life for them.” Protesters jeered.

“We refused to compromise on anyone’s humanity. No amount of shouting stopped us,” Lander, the Democratic nominee for a House seat in Manhattan and Brooklyn, later wrote on X with a photo taken at the vigil. “May their memory be for a blessing.”