Netanyahu attacks Mamdani over arrest call before planned UN visit

Washington,UPDATED: Jul 27, 2026 00:58 IST

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani of “fomenting hate” after the mayor said he should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly. Netanyahu said he still plans to be in New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders.

In an interview, Netanyahu also said he was worried that political support for Israel in the United States, once backed by both parties, was under strain. He also warned of rising antisemitism in the US and other Western countries.

Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo, Netanyahu said of Mamdani: “He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers - Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone. But he’s trying to turn one group against the other.”

Mamdani had said last week that while New York City does not have the legal authority to carry out an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court, he was encouraging the federal government to do so. During his mayoral election campaign last year, he had said he would seek to order the city’s police to enforce the ICC warrant over Netanyahu’s role in the war in Gaza. But last week, he said the city did not have the authority to arrest him and called on federal authorities to step in.

“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 message. He also told New Yorkers that he understood their frustration and that expressions of protest were something the city would “always respect”. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

Netanyahu has become an increasingly polarising figure over Israel’s war in Gaza, which began after the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants. Israel also joined the US in starting the war against Iran on February 28 before launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon in response to fire from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

On Sunday, Netanyahu dismissed the ICC’s war crimes charges against him as “bogus”. He referred to sexual misconduct allegations against the court’s top prosecutor, who was removed from that post on Friday, and said the warrant was an attempt to divert attention. The Hague-based court has accused Netanyahu, his former defence minister and the late leader of Hamas of crimes against humanity.

The Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry says more than 73,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive, with roughly half of them women and children. Around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the initial Hamas attack on Israel.

Netanyahu said he was concerned that support for Israel in the US was at risk, especially as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with Mamdani’s wing of the party splinter. He also spoke about what he described as growing discomfort among Jewish people in New York City, which is home to the second-largest Jewish population in the world. “Jews feel very uncomfortable,” he said. “And I think it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong.”

Former US President Donald Trump said in a social media post on 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 Trump and attend funeral services for late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Calling Graham an “extraordinary American patriot”, Netanyahu’s latest remarks came as he reiterated his plan to visit New York in September despite Mamdani’s opposition.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends