Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that New York Mayor Zoharan Mamdani is spreading hatred. He called the prime minister a war criminal and said that if he came to the city for the UN General Assembly, he should be arrested because of the Gaza war. Netanyahu said he intends to visit New York in September to address the annual UN meeting of world leaders, even though the mayor says he is not welcome.
Mamdani said last week that although New York City does not have the legal authority to enforce arrest warrants issued by the world’s top war-crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so.
Prime Minister very controversial regarding Israel’s war
Speaking to Maria Bartiromo on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures program, Netanyahu said he should be the mayor of all New Yorkers – Jews, Christians, Muslims, all. But he is trying to pit one group against the other. The Prime Minister has become a very controversial figure regarding Israel’s war in Gaza.
This war began on October 7, 2023, after a deadly attack on southern Israel by Hamas extremists. Israel also joined the US in launching a war against Iran on February 28, before launching a ground attack in southern Lebanon in response to shelling by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
Called war crimes allegations baseless
On Sunday, Netanyahu described the International Criminal Court (ICC) war crimes allegations against him as baseless. He pointed to allegations of sexual misconduct against the ICC’s top prosecutor, who was removed from that post on Friday, and said the warrant was an attempt to divert attention. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Support from both parties at risk for Israel
Netanyahu expressed concern that bipartisan political support for Israel in the United States is at risk, particularly as the party’s progressive and hard-left Democrats are aligning with Mamdani’s faction. He also warned about rising anti-Semitism in America and other Western countries.
He said that when he talks to people in New York City – home to the world’s second-largest Jewish population – Jews feel very uncomfortable. “And I think that’s wrong,” he said. This whole thing is wrong. During his mayoral election campaign last year, Mamdani said he would try to order the city’s police to execute an ICC (International Criminal Court) arrest warrant over Netanyahu’s role in the Gaza war.
No legal right to arrest Netanyahu
But last week Mamdani acknowledged that his city did not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu and appealed to federal authorities to intervene. “I want to say very clearly that Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal roaming free,” he said in a video message.
He told New Yorkers that he understood their disappointment and that the city would always respect protests. The Hague-based court has accused Netanyahu, his former defense minister and the late Hamas leader of crimes against humanity. The Palestinian territory’s health ministry says more than 73,000 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks, nearly half of whom are women and children. Hamas’s initial attack on Israel killed about 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians.
Netanyahu will not be arrested: Trump
Trump told Netanyahu in a post on social media that as long as he remains in America, he will not be arrested in any way. Netanyahu is expected to come to Washington this week to meet Trump and attend the funeral of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Graham, who had a strong stance on defense matters and was a big supporter of Israel, died suddenly two weeks ago. It is believed that his death was due to bursting of the ‘aorta’ (main artery of the heart). The Prime Minister described him as an extraordinary American patriot.
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