Akunis Tells Mamdani to Focus on New York, Reasserts Israel’s Jewish Homeland

Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, urged Mayor Zohran Mamdani to concentrate on his city before criticizing Israel in a message posted on Wednesday evening. Addressing the mayor’s official account on X, Akunis said the Land of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people and explicitly included Judea and Samaria in that statement. He ended his reply by telling Mamdani to clean up New York City before speaking about Israel. The statement was published at 7:27 p.m. Israel time on October 21.