Netanyahu responds to Mamdani call for his arrest
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discusses his plan to attend the United Nations General Assembly despite New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s calls to fulfill an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. He also weighs in on military strategy against Iran and Hezbollah on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of “fomenting hate,” arguing Sunday the democratic socialist’s anti-Israel rhetoric is dividing New Yorkers and making the city’s Jewish community feel unsafe.
“Look what he’s doing. He’s fomenting hate. 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,” Netanyahu told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo.
Netanyahu said Jewish Americans in New York have told him they are growing more fearful.
JEWISH LEADERS FAULT MAMDANI RHETORIC AS UPPER WEST SIDE STABBING, HATE CRIME PROBE CONTINUES
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15.; Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, right, speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for 2 World Trade Center in New York on Thursday, July 9. (Ronen Zvulun / Pool / AFP via Getty Images; Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“They’re afraid right now, and I don’t think it’s accidental that after [Mamdani] made this hate speech against Israel and against me, the next day, a Jew is stabbed coming out of a synagogue,” he said.
The Israeli leader was referring to last week’s stabbing outside a Manhattan synagogue, where authorities allege 51-year-old Raul Morales stabbed a Jewish man in the chest with a screwdriver while shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
Reports also allege Morales yelled the same phrase during a separate stabbing of a 57-year-old Asian man.
SUSPECT ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY YELLING ‘ALLAHU AKBAR,’ STABBING 2 MEN IN NYC ATTACK
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s video admitting that he lacks the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did little to ease Jewish leaders’ concerns. (NYC Mayor’s Office via YouTube/Handout via Reuters)
“I think that it’s shameful. This thing is very bad for New York. I think it’s very bad for peace,” Netanyahu said, criticizing Mamdani’s rhetoric.
Netanyahu appeared to be referring to Mamdani’s remarks from last week, in which Mamdani acknowledged that New York City officials lack the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu under the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) warrant, but urged federal officials to do so.
Mamdani called Netanyahu a “war criminal” and “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people” during the address.
MAMDANI DODGES ON ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ OF EMPTY NETANYAHU ARREST THREAT, CALLS FOR US ACTION AND NYC PROTESTS
Despite Mamdani’s repeated insistence that the Israeli leader is not welcome in New York, Netanyahu said he still intends to travel to the city for the United Nations General Assembly which begins in September, where he vowed to “speak the truth” and defend Israel and its ties to the United States from the podium.
“I’m not concerned [about Mamdani],” Netanyahu said.
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“I’ve appeared just about every year… in my prime ministership, unless there are security conditions, but barring that — and I don’t expect that to be the case this time — yes, I do intend to come to New York,” he said.
The New York City mayor’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
