Tel Aviv Vice Mayor Guy Avner began with a boxing ring, but he is willing to settle for tennis, basketball or even chess. The sport, he said, is negotiable. His intended opponent is not: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Avner said his public challenge to Mamdani was genuine and could raise money for charity while bringing the two municipal leaders face to face. He accused the New York mayor of using rhetoric that encourages hostility toward Jews and Israel.
“This is a very serious proposal,” Avner said. “If Mayor Mamdani wishes, we can do basketball, we can do chess, whichever sport he wants.”
The challenge followed a video in which Avner invited Mamdani into the ring for a one-on-one charity event and said Mamdani could choose the beneficiary. Avner framed the proposed match as an answer to statements he described as hostile to the Jewish people, Israel and the Israel Defense Forces.
Avner pointed to what he described as Mamdani’s support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and criticized his handling of language associated with calls to “globalize the intifada.” He also objected to Mamdani’s use of the word “genocide” when discussing Israel. Those positions, Avner said, made him feel compelled to respond as an Israeli, a Jew and a military reservist.
“I’m against violence, but this should stop,” Avner said. “His statements are creating a bad atmosphere.” He went further, alleging that Mamdani’s words were contributing to antisemitic activity in New York and elsewhere.
Avner said boxing appealed to him because it would attract attention and because he has some experience in the sport. He said he served in an Israeli military counterterrorism unit and continues to perform reserve duty. The event, he added, could support a cause selected by both sides rather than serve only as a political spectacle.
“It’s not that I’m against Mamdani personally,” he said. “I’m just against his statements versus the Jewish people and the Israeli people and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces].”
Avner pointed to Jaffa, where he lives, as evidence of the coexistence he believes is missing from Mamdani’s portrayal of Israel. He described Jewish, Muslim and Christian residents living alongside one another and said Mamdani should visit Tel Aviv and Jaffa to see that daily life directly.
The vice mayor said he had received extensive support from residents since issuing the challenge; he acknowledged that campaigning for Palestinians and their quality of life was legitimate. His objection, he said, was to rhetoric that he believes could encourage people to target Jewish communities.
“I just want to look him in the eye,” Avner said. “I want him to see me and to understand that we’re not very different.”
Avner cited anti-Jewish incidents as accounting for more than half of New York’s reported hate crimes this year and asked what action the mayor should take. Avner responded by claiming there was “no doubt” that Mamdani was influencing younger people to hate Jews and Israel. He did not offer evidence proving causation.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani
(Photo: Reuters)
He called on Mamdani to withdraw previous statements, condemn language about a globalized intifada and accept the challenge. He said a meeting could redirect the dispute toward “hope,” “peace” and “unity,” even as he repeatedly described the mayor’s language as reckless.
Asked how he interpreted Mamdani’s support among Jewish voters, Avner argued that those voters had prioritized Mamdani’s economic agenda, including housing, over his positions on Israel. He said some had been drawn to what he characterized as socialist policies and predicted that many would not support Mamdani again.
When asked if there was something the Israeli government could do to improve the country’s image, given that Mamdani had said in July that he was finding ways to have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested for alleged war crimes when he visits the UN in September, Avner responded, “I think the government failed in bringing the Israeli message across the world,” Avner said. “I think this was an extreme government that was pulling in different directions.” He predicted that coming elections would bring change and said Israel was being presented internationally in a way it did not deserve.
He said that frustration was linked to the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which he called the worst day in Israel’s history. Rather than receiving sustained international support, he said, Israel had watched its standing deteriorate. He blamed the current government for part of that outcome while insisting that the country’s need for a Jewish national home remained nonnegotiable.
Avner’s role in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality is recent. He said Mayor Ron Huldai appointed him vice mayor in June after he had served as a council member. A representative of the Yisrael Beitenu party, Avner said his municipal work is unpaid and includes responsibilities involving immigrant integration, social services and sports. He also works as an attorney and in real estate development.
For now, the proposed contest remains a public invitation rather than a scheduled event. Avner said the charitable beneficiary could be jointly chosen and the sport itself could change. What he wants to preserve, he said, is the confrontation at the center of the proposal: “You want to throw some punches at us, throw them on me. Let’s do it, and let’s do it for a good cause.”