Netanyahu says Mamdani uses arrest threat to distract from NYC failures

Netanyahu wrote: “Like Karim Khan, Mamdani appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Sunday accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of using threats to arrest Netanyahu as a distraction from his own record after Mamdani said the city was reviewing whether it could detain the Israeli leader during the United Nations General Assembly in September.

“The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Netanyahu’s post said the arrest warrant was issued by former ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan shortly before allegations of sexual misconduct against him became public and described the move as an attempt to divert scrutiny.

The statement said Israel had taken unprecedented wartime measures to reduce civilian harm while fighting Hamas, which it called “a genocidal terrorist organization that uses Palestinians as human shields and deliberately targets innocent Israeli civilians.”

“Instead of backing Khan’s criminal behavior, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York,” the statement said. “Like Karim Khan, Mamdani appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.”

Mamdani said New York City’s Law Department is examining whether the mayor or the New York Police Department has authority to arrest a visiting foreign head of government.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said on “The Interview,” a New York Times program hosted by Lulu Garcia-Navarro. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.”

Mamdani said the issue remains under legal review. “Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” he said.

During last year’s mayoral campaign, Mamdani told The New York Times he would direct police to arrest Netanyahu if he visited the city.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, alleging responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity over the conflict in Gaza.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said Mamdani was neglecting his duties as mayor and using attacks on Israel to generate headlines. “The prime minister of Israel will come to New York, address the General Assembly of the UN with pride, and stand before the world,” he said.