Netanyahu says he will visit New York despite Mayor Mamdani's calls for his arrest
'I'm going to speak the truth in front of this hate-spewing elected official,' says Israeli premier, though Mamdani and others reject claim that criticism of Israel is antisemitism
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he plans to travel to New York for the UN General Assembly this September despite calls from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to enforce an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him.
A Fox News host told Netanyahu that Mamdani had suggested he could be arrested if he traveled to the city, adding that such a scenario "will never happen."
"First of all, I'm going to New York," Netanyahu said. "But I'm definitely going there. I'm going to speak the truth in front of this hate-spewing elected official."
Netanyahu accused Mamdani of promoting division among New Yorkers and going after Jewish residents.
"He's pitting one group of New Yorkers against the others. He's turning them against New York Jews. I mean, what are we, in the 1930s? What is this? So much hate. So many lies," Netanyahu said, referring to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in the runup to World War II.
Critics of Netanyahu and Israel have long disputed the claim that criticizing them somehow equals antisemitism. While campaigning for mayor last year, Mamdani did extensive outreach with New York’s large Jewish population.
Last week Mamdani called Netanyahu a “war criminal” and urged the US government to enforce an ICC arrest warrant against him if he enters the US.
President Donald Trump, however, vowed that Netanyahu “will not be arrested” while visiting the US.
The ICC in November 2024 issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, where more than 73,000 people have been killed in a brutal offensive since October 2023.
Turning to his meeting with Trump earlier Tuesday at the White House, Netanyahu said it was "great."
"One of the best meetings that we've had," Netanyahu told Fox News.
"I always hate to disappoint our would-be critics who are trying to find cracks in our alliance. And what they find like today is a wall of granite ... We have a common commitment. We don't want to see this fanatic regime in Tehran have nuclear weapons," he added.
