Netanyahu talks ‘bromance’ with Trump, ridicules Madmani’s ‘stupid’ NYC bid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears on popular pro-Trump podcast, reiterating claim that Iran has made two attempts to assassinate the US president.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dished out sharp criticism of the leading candidate in this year’s New York City mayoral election, calling Zohran Madmani’s campaign “stupid” while embracing the term “bromance” to describe his relationship with President Donald Trump.

On Monday, Netanyahu appeared on “The Full Send Podcast,” hosted by a pair of pro-Trump podcasters from a channel known as the NELK Boys.

During the show, filmed on July 8, Netanyahu told hosts Kyle Forgeard and Aaron Steinberg that New York State Assemblyman Zohran Madmani’s agenda would, if he wins election, likely doom him to a single term as mayor.

“A lot of people have been taken in by this nonsense,” Netanyahu said, responding “yeah” when Steinberg called Madmani “an antisemitic guy.”

“You want to defund the police? You want to have people go into stores and rob them and be free? You think that really creates a good society? You want to crush all enterprise? You want to tax people to death? You know, that’s a one-term effort. But, you know, sometimes you have to get mugged by reality to understand how stupid that is,” Netanyahu continued.

Madmani, who represents the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in New York, has refused to repudiate the phrase “globalize the intifada” and has accused Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, drawing sharp criticism even from some within his own party.

Netanyahu also played up his relationship with Trump, accepting Forgeard’s suggestion that the two have a “bromance.”

“You might [call it that],” said Netanyahu. “We’ve known each other several decades and…I really like him.”

The Israeli premier distinguished his relationship with Trump from that with former president Joe Biden, saying their relationship was “not the same.”

“I’ve known Biden for…40 years. Almost as long. It was a different relationship, It was a friendship, but also it evolved into, how shall I say this, severe disagreements,” he said.

By contrast, Netanyahu said that he has enjoyed “powerful agreements” with Trump, rebuffing media reports of tension between the two leaders.

The prime minister appeared to hint at secret Iranian involvement in the two shooting incidents targeting Trump last year, despite no official link between the Islamic Republic and either assassination attempt.

“Iran tried to assassinate President Trump not once, but twice. They openly admit [it],” he said.

The comments appeared to reference two shootings targeting Trump during the 2024 election campaign, including the assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks in July that wounded the president during a rally in Pennsylvania and a September shooting by Ryan Wesley Routh in Florida.

While US authorities have tied Iran to two separate plots to kill Trump – one involving Pakistani national Asif Merchant last summer and the other involving Farhad Shakeri – neither Crooks nor Routh has been accused of working on behalf of Iran.

Routh did write in his 2023 self-published book that Iran should assassinate Trump.

Benjamin NetanyahuDonald Trumpzohran madmani