Micheál Martin rejects Binyamin Netanyahu’s criticism of New York mayor Mamdani

Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected the labelling by Israel prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Zohran Mamdani as a supporter of Hamas, before meeting the New York mayor at an Irish community hub in Long Island City.Netanyahu, who delivered a series of provocative insults directed at Mamdani before his address at the UN in New York on Thursday, posted a message on X in which he said: “Shame on you for the supporting the Hamas monsters who butchered our people. Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews.”Speaking outside the Irish consulate at the MetLife building on Wednesday morning, in advance of the second day of his United Nations General Assembly engagements, Martin said that Mamdani had been given a strong mandate by voters in the city.“First of all there is a general election going on in Israel and we need to be careful that we are not being sucked into that campaign in a way that could be advantageous to some. But I would reject that. Mayor Mamdani, first of all, has been a very effective mayor. He is quite popular here in New York. And he has won a very significant mandate here. And I think we should respect his mandate and not endeavour to cast doubt on it or undermine it,” Martin said.READ MOREMartin was due to meet members of the New York Irish Center at lunchtime on Wednesday, where Mamdani would join the Irish delegation and speak with members of the community. Both politicians were also scheduled to have a short, private discussion. The Taoiseach and the Israeli prime minister will give their respective addresses in the UN general assembly hall on Thursday.Martin also addressed Government ambitions for the programmes under priority in the forthcoming budget which, he acknowledged, will fall short of doing “everything for everyone”.“Well, for the vast majority we are simply hoping that people will keep pace with inflation – we did that last year with the pensions and the public service pay deal,” he said when asked how much better off people will be after the package is announced.“We can’t do everything for everyone in the budget so we have to target our resources and so in the area of childcare and disability.”[ US delegation walks out as Iran’s president angrily responds to Trump at UNOpens in new window ]In commenting on the predicament of a number of Irish people who are held in ICE detention facilities in the US, Martin said the Government will continue its efforts to advance a pathway to legal status for the undocumented members of the Irish diaspora.“We continue to make representations on behalf of those who are undocumented in the US and I have always sought to develop legal pathways to deal with the situation, both retrospectively and into the future,” he said.“The migration question is very tough here, it is tough all over the world and countries are taking various stances. We have to navigate this carefully in terms of those who need our respect and support.”