Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has launched a fresh attack on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, placing his image alongside those of Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on a campaign billboard.
The billboard, displayed in central Tel Aviv, carries a message warning Israelis about figures allegedly seeking Netanyahu’s defeat.
“They want Netanyahu to lose … Don’t let them win,” the poster reads alongside the logo of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party.
The billboard comes as Netanyahu prepares for an election campaign aimed at keeping his coalition in power. Israel’s Knesset was dissolved in July, with elections expected in October, making it the first national poll since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023.
Mamdani has repeatedly criticised Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since launching his mayoral campaign, escalating his public clash with Netanyahu.
Last month, Mamdani described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” who “belonged in The Hague”. He also called on US authorities to enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister travels to New York for the UN General Assembly in September.
Netanyahu responded by accusing the New York mayor of “fomenting hate” and creating divisions between religious communities in the city.
The Israeli leader has also expressed concern that support for Israel among US Democrats could be weakening, particularly among progressive politicians associated with Mamdani. Recent polling, however, has indicated that Mamdani has stronger support among American Jewish voters than Netanyahu.
Netanyahu further intensified his criticism of Britain this week, describing the country as “the Islamic republic of Britain” during a podcast interview.
He also referred to the UK as the “first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon”, comments that drew attention for echoing far-right rhetoric about Britain’s Muslim population.
Netanyahu shared an image of the Tel Aviv billboard on his social media accounts on Sunday, accompanied by a video showing Mamdani making his remarks about the Israeli leader.
The dispute comes as negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza continue to face difficulties. US envoy Jared Kushner held a three-hour meeting with Netanyahu on Monday, but the discussions produced no reported breakthrough.
Israel continues to insist that its forces will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas agrees to disarm, remaining one of the key obstacles to reaching an agreement.
