Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants you to see New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in very specific company. A massive campaign billboard erected by Netanyahu’s Likud party in central Tel Aviv features Mamdani right alongside Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem.
The message plastered across the poster is blunt: "They want Netanyahu to lose. Don't let them win."
For anyone tracking international diplomacy, grouping a progressive American municipal leader with armed militia chiefs and heads of state hostile to Israel is a radical political maneuver. But as Israel heads toward a high-stakes national election in October following the dissolution of the Knesset, Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival. Trailing in opinion polls, the veteran leader is leaning into classic wedge politics, branding domestic and international critics as an aligned foreign threat.
The Feud That Triggered the Billboard
This escalation didn't happen in a vacuum. The bad blood between Netanyahu and Mamdani has been brewing for months. Since taking office at the start of the year, Mamdani has used his platform as New York's mayor to launch fierce critiques of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Things boiled over when Mamdani publicly labeled Netanyahu a "war criminal" who belongs in The Hague. He didn't stop at rhetoric. Mamdani went a step further, calling on US authorities to enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant if Netanyahu travels to New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Naturally, Netanyahu fired back. He accused the New York mayor of fomenting hate and deepening religious division. By placing Mamdani on a Tel Aviv billboard alongside existential adversaries like Iran and Hezbollah, Netanyahu is trying to frame local American political opposition as part of a broader, coordinated international assault on Israel's legitimacy.
Why This Strategy Matters for Israel’s Elections
Elections in Israel this October mark the first time voters are heading to the polls since the devastating October 7 attacks. The political landscape is fractured, and Netanyahu's right-wing coalition is fighting to hold onto power.
By spotlighting foreign critics like Erdogan, Khamenei, and Mamdani, Likud's campaign playbook is straightforward. It aims to rally the base by evoking a "us versus the world" mentality. When voters look at the highway poster overlooking Tel Aviv, the subtext is clear: any political shift away from Netanyahu benefits external forces actively working against the nation's security.
However, this tactic carries heavy risks. Aligning a prominent American mayor—and by extension, progressive elements of the US political ecosystem—with designated enemies could permanently strain already delicate ties with Washington. Netanyahu has already voiced concern that traditional bipartisan support for Israel in the United States is fraying because of figures aligned with Mamdani. Yet, for a campaign trying to claw back points in the polls, short-term nationalist mobilization often takes precedence over long-term diplomatic fallout.
Opposition parties within Israel have already seized on the controversial marketing move, pushing out parodies and questioning the strategic wisdom of turning foreign municipal leaders into central domestic bogeymen. As the October vote approaches, expect the rhetoric to get louder.
Check out this Netanyahu billboard controversy analysis to see how local media and opposition figures are reacting to the campaign poster in Tel Aviv.
