Netanyahu attacks NYC mayor Mamdani after ‘bogus’ | Political News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani of “fomenting hate” on Sunday, after the mayor labeled Netanyahu a struggle felony who ought to face arrest if he travels to the town for the United Nations General Assembly.

Netanyahu confirmed his intention to attend the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders in New York this September, dismissing the mayor’s assertion that he’s unwelcome. Mamdani said last week that while New York City lacks the legal authority to implement an arrest warrant issued by the world’s main war-crimes court, he urged the federal authorities to act on it.

“He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers – Jews, Christians, Muslims, everybody,” 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 has grow to be an more and more divisive determine amid Israel’s ongoing battle in Gaza, which was sparked by the lethal Hamas militant assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel subsequently joined the U.S. in launching a navy marketing campaign against Iran on Feb. 28, before initiating a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in retaliation for attacks carried out by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

Netanyahu on Sunday rejected the International Criminal Court’s struggle crimes fees against him as “bogus.” He referenced inappropriate misconduct allegations against the ICC’s top prosecutor, who was eliminated from that place on Friday, and claimed the warrant was an effort to divert consideration.

The mayor’s workplace didn’t immediately reply to a request for remark Sunday.

Netanyahu expressed concern that beforehand bipartisan political assist for Israel in the U.S. is under menace, significantly as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with the Mamdani faction of the occasion diverge.

He also cautioned against rising antisemitism in the U.S. and other Western nations, noting that when he speaks to people in New York City, home to the world’s second-largest Jewish population, “Jews feel very uncomfortable.

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“And I feel it is unsuitable. The entire factor is unsuitable,” he said.

During his mayoral campaign last year, Mamdani stated he would seek to direct the city’s police to execute the ICC’s arrest warrant concerning Netanyahu’s role in the Gaza war.

However, Mamdani acknowledged last week that his city lacked the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu and urged federal authorities to intervene.

“I need to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu just isn’t welcome in New York City, neither is any other struggle felony at large,” he said in a video message.

He told New Yorkers that he understood their frustration and that expressions of protest is something the city would “always respect.”

The Hague-based court has leveled charges of crimes against humanity against Netanyahu, his former defense minister, and the late Hamas leader. According to the Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry, more than 73,000 people have lost their lives in Israel’s military offensive, with approximately half being women and children. The initial Hamas assault on Israel claimed the lives of some 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians.

In a social media post on Monday, Trump assured Netanyahu that he “won’t be arrested, in any manner, form, or type, while in the United States of America.”

Netanyahu is set to visit Washington this week for meetings with Trump and to pay his respects at the funeral of the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Graham, a prominent defense hawk and staunch ally of Israel, passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago from what is believed to have been a torn aorta. The prime minister honored him as an “extraordinary American patriot.”