Overview
- A Likud billboard unveiled on Sunday placed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani alongside Iran’s Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem with the slogan “They want Netanyahu to lose.”
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amplified the ad on social media by reposting the image and urging supporters “Don’t let them win.”
- Reports that drew on social posts and local coverage located the billboard in Tel Aviv overlooking the Ayalon Highway after initial confusion about whether it was in Jerusalem.
- Opponents quickly produced parody versions of the ad, with Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party and Knesset member Naama Lazimi circulating altered posters that turned Likud’s message back on Netanyahu.
- The episode deepens a campaign where security imagery and sharp messaging matter to voters and could affect outcome by shifting undecided voters and changing small‑party calculations ahead of the October 27 election.