Netanyahu rebukes NYC Mayor Mamdani as he heads to the UN

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, called out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday ahead of Netanyahu’s upcoming trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

In a post on social media, Netanyahu accused Mamdani of supporting the terror group Hamas, whom he said were responsible for butchering the Jewish people during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that left approximately 1,200 Israelis dead. Netanyahu also accused him of inciting riots against New York Jews. He said he was going to tell the truth about the Jewish soldiers and the truth about Mamdani when he was in front of the UN Thursday.

This post was in response to Mamdani repeatedly calling Netanyahu a war criminal in July and pushing for his arrest over a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, or ICC. Technically, if Netanyahu set foot in an ICC member state, he could be arrested and handed over to the court, but the United States is not a member of the ICC. Mamdani said Netanyahu was not welcome in New York City, but acknowledged that the city does not have the independent legal authority to arrest him. He called on the federal government to arrest him instead. After Mamdani’s threat, President Donald Trump said Netanyahu would not be arrested in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States.

Has Mamdani responded to Netanyahu’s latest statement? In a news conference later in the day, Mamdani denied Netanyahu’s allegations. He went on to again accuse Netanyahu of war crimes and, in his words, genocide against Palestinians.