Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has launched a campaign billboard in central Tel Aviv that compares New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah. The billboard depicts Mayor Mamdani alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, and Naim Qassem, the chief of the militant group Hezbollah.
The poster, which includes the logo of Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud party, carries the message: “They want Netanyahu to lose … Don’t let them win.” This move comes as Netanyahu campaigns to maintain his coalition's power, with elections scheduled for October after the Knesset was dissolved in July.
The billboard is the latest development in a public disagreement between Netanyahu and Mamdani. Mayor Mamdani has previously called Netanyahu a “war criminal” who “belonged in The Hague” and urged US authorities to enforce an international criminal court warrant for Netanyahu's arrest if he attends the UN general assembly in September. Netanyahu responded by accusing Mamdani of “fomenting hate” and endangering bipartisan support for Israel in the US.
Netanyahu posted a photo of the billboard on his social media accounts on Sunday, along with a video featuring Mamdani’s comments. The Israeli prime minister’s ruling coalition is currently trailing in opinion polls. Mamdani has not yet publicly responded to his inclusion in Netanyahu’s election campaign materials.