Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of “fomenting hate” after the mayor declared that Netanyahu — whom he called a war criminal — should be arrested if he travels to the city for the United Nations General Assembly this fall.
Netanyahu made clear he has no plans to skip the annual gathering of world leaders in September, despite the mayor’s unwelcoming remarks. Mamdani said last week that while New York City lacks the legal power to carry out an arrest warrant issued by the world’s leading war-crimes court, he urged federal authorities to act on it.
Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo, Netanyahu criticized the mayor’s stance. “He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers — Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone,” Netanyahu said. “But he’s trying to turn one group against the other.”
Netanyahu has grown into an increasingly divisive figure amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, a conflict that began following the deadly Hamas militant attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel also joined the United States in launching a war against Iran on February 28 before sending ground forces into southern Lebanon in response to attacks from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.
On Sunday, Netanyahu brushed aside the International Criminal Court’s war crimes charges against him, calling them “bogus.” He pointed to sexual misconduct allegations against the court’s chief prosecutor — who was removed from the position on Friday — and suggested the arrest warrant was meant to serve as a distraction.
The mayor’s office did not provide a comment when contacted Sunday.
Netanyahu expressed worry that long-standing bipartisan support for Israel in the United States is eroding, particularly as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with Mamdani’s wing of the party break away.
He also raised alarms about growing antisemitism across the U.S. and other Western nations, saying that when he speaks with people in New York City — home to the second-largest Jewish population in the world — “Jews feel very uncomfortable.” He added, “And I think it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong.”
During his mayoral campaign last year, Mamdani had promised to direct city police to enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant tied to Netanyahu’s conduct during the Gaza war. However, last week he acknowledged the city does not have the legal authority to make such an arrest and called on the federal government to step in instead.
“I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” Mamdani said in a video statement. He also told New Yorkers he understood their frustration and that the city would “always respect” peaceful protest.
The Hague-based court has charged Netanyahu, his former defense minister, and the late leader of Hamas with crimes against humanity. The Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry reports that more than 73,000 people have died in Israel’s military campaign — approximately half of them women and children. Around 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians, were killed in the original Hamas attack on Israel.
Trump posted on social media Monday that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”
Netanyahu is expected in Washington this week to meet with Trump and attend funeral services for the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham, a prominent defense hawk and strong advocate for Israel, died suddenly two weeks ago from what is believed to have been a torn aorta. Netanyahu described him as an “extraordinary American patriot.”
