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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he will travel to New York for the U.N. General Assembly in September despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s calls for the U.S. government to enforce an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him.
Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu rejected the ICC warrant and dismissed the possibility of being arrested during the visit.
“This will never happen. I’m going to New York,” Netanyahu said.
A Fox News host told Netanyahu that Mamdani had suggested he could be arrested if he traveled to the city, adding that such a scenario “will never happen.”
“I’m definitely going there,” Netanyahu said. “I’m going to speak the truth in front of this hate-spewing elected official.”
Mamdani last week described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and urged the U.S. government to enforce the ICC warrant if the Israeli prime minister enters the country.
The New York mayor said city authorities do not have independent legal authority to arrest Netanyahu but argued that the federal government should take action.
U.S. President Donald Trump, however, said Netanyahu “will not be arrested” while visiting the U.S.
Netanyahu accused Mamdani of creating divisions among New Yorkers and turning residents against the city’s Jewish population.
“He’s pitting one group of New Yorkers against the others. He’s turning them against New York Jews. I mean, what are we, in the 1930s? What is this? So much hate. So many lies,” Netanyahu said, referring to Nazi persecution of Jews before World War II.
Critics of Netanyahu and Israel have long rejected claims that criticism of them amounts to antisemitism. Mamdani conducted extensive outreach to New York’s large Jewish population while campaigning for mayor last year.
The ICC issued arrest warrants on Nov. 21, 2024, for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu reiterated that he does not recognize the court’s decision.
More than 73,000 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza since October 2023.
Netanyahu also described his meeting with Trump at the White House earlier Tuesday as “one of the best meetings” the two leaders had held.
He claimed Israel and the U.S. were in complete agreement on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu warned that the objective would be achieved through diplomacy or “other means” if diplomatic efforts failed.
He also denied any disagreement between himself and Trump, saying the two countries would continue disappointing critics seeking signs of divisions in their alliance.
“I always hate to disappoint our would-be critics who are trying to find cracks in our alliance,” Netanyahu said. “And what they find like today is a wall of granite.”
“We have a common commitment. We don’t want to see this fanatic regime in Tehran have nuclear weapons,” he added.
Despite Netanyahu’s claim of full agreement, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said Monday that Israel wanted to target Iran’s energy infrastructure but the U.S. had not allowed it.
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