Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of 'fomenting hate' after the mayor called for his arrest over the war in Gaza. Netanyahu, in an interview on Fox News on Sunday, said Mamdani, who is seeking re-election, was trying to turn New Yorkers against each other by branding him a war criminal.
Netanyahu stated he still intends to travel to New York in September for the UN General Assembly, despite Mamdani's suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani had said on Wednesday that while the city has no legal authority to execute the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant, he encouraged federal authorities to do so.
The prime minister dismissed the ICC's war crimes charges against him as 'bogus', pointing to sexual misconduct allegations against the court's former top prosecutor, who was removed from his post on Friday. Netanyahu also expressed concern that bipartisan US support for Israel is fraying, particularly among progressive Democrats aligned with Mamdani.
Netanyahu warned of rising antisemitism in the US and other Western countries, saying that Jews in New York feel 'very uncomfortable'. The ICC has accused Netanyahu, his former defence minister, and the late Hamas leader of crimes against humanity over the Gaza conflict, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry.
Former President Donald Trump said on social media that Netanyahu 'will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America'. Netanyahu is expected in Washington DC on Monday to meet Trump and attend funeral services for the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a strong Israel supporter who died suddenly on 11 July.
