Netanyahu attacks Mamdani after arrest warrant row over Gaza war

Benjamin Netanyahu accused Zohran Mamdani of “fomenting hate” after the New York mayor urged Washington to enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant tied to the Gaza war. Mamdani posted a video on July 22 saying New York City did not have the legal authority to execute the warrant and that the federal government did.

Mamdani said the International Criminal Court issued the warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza war. He also urged the United States to uphold international law and cooperate with the court, turning a local legal question into a broader test of how U.S. officials respond to international criminal allegations involving Israel’s prime minister.

The dispute had already moved beyond New York politics before Netanyahu responded. In a July 18 interview, Mamdani said he was in “an active conversation” with the city’s legal department about whether Netanyahu could be arrested if he came to New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September 2026. On July 20, Donald Trump said Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

The backlash intensified on July 23 when Senator John Fetterman called Mamdani a “clown” on Fox News, saying a mayor cannot order an arrest. By July 26, Netanyahu dismissed the ICC case as “bogus” and said Mamdani was calling him a war criminal who should be arrested if he visits New York City.

The row has pulled the powers of a city mayor, the reach of federal authority and the symbolism of the United Nations into the same fight. Mamdani’s video framed New York as bound by law but not empowered to act alone, while Netanyahu’s response elevated that message into a geopolitical confrontation over Gaza, the ICC and the politics surrounding his expected appearance in New York.