Benjamin Netanyahu, a man currently facing international war crimes charges, went on Fox News Sunday to complain that the mayor of New York City was being mean to him. The Israeli prime minister called Mayor Zohran Mamdani a hate-fomenter for suggesting the U.S. government should do what the International Criminal Court actually asked it to do: arrest Netanyahu if he shows up in New York this fall.
The Man With a Warrant Wants an Apology
Here's the situation. The ICC, which is the world's top war crimes court, has issued charges against Benjamin Netanyahu for crimes against humanity related to Israel's war in Gaza. Mamdani, who spent his entire 2025 mayoral campaign promising to push for enforcement of that warrant, did exactly what he said he'd do. On Wednesday, he stated clearly that while New York City lacks the legal authority to execute an ICC warrant itself, he was calling on the federal government to do so.
Netanyahu's response to this was not to address the charges. It was to go on Fox News and call Mamdani a divider. "He's supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers, Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone," Netanyahu told Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures. "But he's trying to turn one group against the other." The ICC's charges, meanwhile, Netanyahu dismissed as simply "bogus."
For good measure, Netanyahu said he intends to come to New York anyway. He plans to address the UN General Assembly in September, according to The Guardian, Mamdani's feelings about war criminals being welcome in his city be damned.
What Mamdani Actually Said
Mamdani's statement on Wednesday was not subtle, and it was not soft. "I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large," he said in a video message, as reported by The Guardian. He told New Yorkers he understood their frustration, and that protest was something the city would "always respect."
This is the same position Mamdani held throughout his entire campaign for mayor, which he won. This was not a surprise. Voters in New York City elected a man who said explicitly that he would push for Netanyahu's arrest if the prime minister visited. The idea that Mamdani is now "fomenting hate" for following through on his central campaign promise requires a creative reading of what "fomenting hate" means.
The Numbers Netanyahu Doesn't Want to Talk About
The Gaza health ministry reports that more than 73,000 people have been killed in Israel's offensive, roughly half of them women and children, according to The Guardian's reporting. The Hamas attack that triggered the war killed approximately 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Both of those numbers are horrific. The ICC looked at the scale of what followed and decided charges were warranted.
The court has accused Netanyahu, his former defense minister, and the late leader of Hamas of crimes against humanity. Netanyahu chose to address this on Sunday by pointing to sexual misconduct allegations against the ICC's chief prosecutor, who was removed from the position on Friday. His argument, essentially, is that the warrant against him should be ignored because the man who initially pursued it had personal misconduct issues. That is not how law works, at any level, anywhere.
Trump Swoops In With a Presidential Hall Pass
Not content to let Netanyahu fend for himself, Donald Trump posted on social media Monday telling the Israeli prime minister that he "will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America." The Guardian confirmed the post. So the president of the United States is now personally guaranteeing immunity to a man the world's top war crimes court wants to prosecute.
Netanyahu is expected in Washington on Monday to meet with Trump and attend funeral services for Senator Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly on July 11 from a likely torn aorta. Netanyahu called Graham a "great patriot" and one of Israel's "greatest friends." Graham was, by any measure, one of the most hawkish and unconditional supporters of Israeli military policy in the U.S. Senate. The timing of the visit, and the company Netanyahu is keeping in Washington, tells you everything about which side of this argument the American federal government has chosen.
Netanyahu's Bigger Worry: Democrats Are Drifting
Beyond the immediate spat with Mamdani, Netanyahu expressed concern on Sunday that once-reliable bipartisan U.S. support for Israel is cracking, per The Guardian. He was particularly focused on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party that Mamdani represents, which he characterized as splintering away from traditional pro-Israel alignment.
He's not wrong about that shift. He is, however, treating it as a PR problem rather than a policy problem. When you're visiting a country to attend a senator's funeral while holding active war crimes charges from an international court, and your response to a mayor calling for your arrest is to go on Fox News and complain about divisiveness, you may have misread where the actual problem lies.
The Dingo Take
Let's be precise about what we're watching here. The mayor of New York City is enforcing, rhetorically at least, an international legal process that exists specifically to hold heads of state accountable for atrocities. That's the ICC doing exactly what it was designed to do, and a democratically elected mayor responding to his constituents doing exactly what he promised them he'd do. Netanyahu calling this "hate" is a bit like a man with an outstanding warrant complaining that the sheriff is creating a hostile environment.
The Trump guarantee is the part that should make everyone's blood run cold. A sitting U.S. president publicly promising a foreign leader immunity from an international war crimes court is not a normal thing. It is not a minor diplomatic courtesy. It is the United States federal government announcing, in plain language, that it will not cooperate with international law when that law applies to a preferred ally. Every country that might one day rely on the ICC for protection just got a clear message about how much American backing is worth.
Mamdani's office didn't return comment Sunday, which is fine. He already said what he needed to say. "Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large." Netanyahu is coming anyway, Trump has promised him a get-out-of-jail-free card, and 73,000 people in Gaza are still dead. Nobody involved in making that happen is losing any sleep over a Brooklyn mayor's press release. But at least someone in elected office in this country is saying the quiet part out loud, and that is not nothing.
