New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo declined to say whether Israel was committing a genocide in the Gaza Strip, as a growing number of Democrats and some Republicans have condemned Israel’s actions amid the ongoing war against Hamas.
“I believe it is obviously a horrific situation. We want peace. It’s long overdue. To watch on a daily basis the carnage that is going on in Gaza is difficult,” Cuomo told NBC’s “Meet the Press NOW” moderator Kristen Welker in an interview Thursday.
Pressed on whether that meant he was not going as far as calling it a genocide, Cuomo replied, “I don’t, I don’t — it’s not my place to provide terminology in this political context.”
“But return the hostages. Eliminate Hamas, which is a terrorist organization, and let’s have peace finally, and that — that is long, long overdue,” he added. “Now my opponent talks about it all the time. It’s not really a mayoral issue, but it is his main political issue because it is a very emotional issue.”
Cuomo is running against New York City Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and Republican Curtis Sliwa to succeed incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who announced this week he was dropping his reelection bid.
A steady stream of lawmakers have started to refer to Israel’s actions as a “genocide,” and the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory declared last month that Israel had committed a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, saying in a report that Israel was “namely (i) killing members of the group; (ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (iii) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and (iv) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those allegations, saying at a press conference in August, “If we had wanted to commit genocide, it would have taken exactly one afternoon,” according to The Times of Israel.
Still, the broader Israel-Hamas war has become a flashpoint in recent U.S. elections, including the New York City mayoral race, where the city has a large Jewish population.
Mamdani had come under intense criticism for initially refusing to denounce the phrase “globalize the Intifada” — a phrase he has not used himself but that pro-Israel activists say risks inciting violence against Zionists and Jews, while pro-Palestinian activists equate it largely with Palestinian liberation.
The New York City Democratic nominee has since said he wouldn’t use the phrase and could discourage others from using it as well. During an interview Wednesday on ABC’s “The View”, Mamdani condemned Hamas, called the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel “a horrific war crime,” and called what was taking place in Gaza a “genocide.”
Cuomo attacked Mamdani over the issue in his interview with Welker, arguing Mamdani hadn’t condemned the use of the “globalize the Intifada” phrase.
“Also remember that Mr. Mamdani won’t condemn the use of the term ‘globalize the Intifada’, which you made this point during your interview with him. ‘Globalize the Intifada’ means kill Jewish people, right? New York has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel,” Cuomo said.
“He has made it clear he does not condone that term, though, in the wake of the interview that I did with him several months ago,” Welker responded.
“He doesn’t condemn the use either, and if it was, if I was saying, kill all Italian people, kill all — fill in the blank. Of course, you condemn that,” Cuomo pushed back. “Of course, you condemn it. It’s to me, it’s disqualifying to seek to be mayor of New York City when you’re unwilling to condemn the use of the term ‘globalize the Intifada’, which is kill all Jews, especially at a time when you see killings happening again and again and again today in the U.K.”
