On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing him of fostering hatred by portraying Netanyahu as a war criminal and urging that he be detained by the International Criminal Court if he visits the city to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Netanyahu confirmed that he expects to travel to New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders, even as Mayor Mamdani had previously signaled that the mayor is not welcome.
Mamdani last week explained that while New York City lacks the legal authority to execute an ICC arrest warrant, he encouraged the federal government to act in accordance with the citadel approval.
“He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers – Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone,” Netanyahu said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo., “but he’s trying to turn one group against the other.”
Netanyahu’s remarks have deepened his polarizing profile amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which erupted following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel.
