Ofir Akunis, the Israeli consul general in New York. Photo: Shahar Azran

Ofir Akunis, the consul general of Israel in New York, has publicly invited New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to attend a screening of footage from the deadly terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that is being held on the third anniversary of the Hamas -led massacre.

Akunis commemorated the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 atrocities on Monday night with an event at New York’s Kehilath Jeshurun Synagogue. Roughly 1,000 people were in attendance, including consuls general, elected officials, and community leaders.

In his speech, Akunis said that on Wednesday, which marks three years since the attack, the consulate will host a screening of a 47-minute film documenting the massacre through real-life footage captured by Hamas terrorists during their deadly rampage, in which they killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Akunis invited Mamdani, a far-left democratic socialist and avowed anti-Zionist, to attend the screening.

“If he will come on Oct. 7, he will see for the first time what the people he supports really did. Maybe if he will come, he will stop spreading his hate and blood libels against the State of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people,” Akunis said. “Anyone who watches this footage and has a human heart will understand who the real enemy is.”

“Three years after the massacre, this is an opportunity to ask world leaders, presidents, heads of government, elected officials, and mayors who continue to criticize us: What would you have done if those same savages had invaded your country or your city and brutally murdered innocent civilians?” Akunis added. “What would you have done if a member of your own family, your son or your daughter, had been burned alive before your eyes? We are done listening to your empty criticism, and I say this loud and clear: We are not impressed by your cowardly actions, your hypocrisy, or your weakness. We are not impressed by an approach designed to appease your new political base.”

The ambassador also sent a letter to Mamdani’s office at City Hall on Monday, inviting the mayor to the screening.

“With your rhetoric against the State of Israel being the fundamental reason for the rise of [antisemitism] in New York City, it is even more crucial now for the safety and continued existence of the Jewish homeland,” Akunis wrote. “Perhaps after watching this film, you will truly understand why the Jewish State is so important and why we will continue to defend ourselves, no matter against whom, and no matter when.”

“I hope you will come with an open heart and that seeing the footage for yourself will help convey the reality of what happened on Oct. 7 in a way that words alone cannot.”

Mamdani is a supporter of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and has repeatedly refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. He has regularly accused Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide” and refused to blatantly condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which has been used to call for violence against Jews and Israelis.