Antisemitism Exposed

When New York City comes second: The problem with an Israel-first mayor

Mamdani now admits the city doesn't have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu if he comes to New York

By Warren H. Cohn Fox News

Published July 22, 2026 7:00am EDT

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DOUBLE-DOWN BACKLASH: Mamdani slammed over Netanyahu rhetoric

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under fire after he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he visited the city.

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For a man elected to run New York City, Zohran Mamdani spends a remarkable amount of time thinking about Israel.

Before he has solved the city’s affordability crisis, before New Yorkers feel safer on the subway, before families see cleaner streets, better schools or a government that simply works, the socialist Mamdani has chosen to make the Jewish state and its leader a defining obsession — Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has publicly declared that he would seek to have Israel’s prime minister arrested if Netanyahu came to New York. Whether or not such a thing could ever happen is beside the point. A New York City mayor has no meaningful role in international criminal law or American foreign policy. Yet this became one of Mamdani’s earliest and most high-profile priorities, and now he admits he doesn't have the legal authority to do so.

MAMDANI SAYS NYC IS EXPLORING WHETHER IT CAN ARREST NETANYAHU IF ISRAELI LEADER VISITS FOR UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a rally in New York alongside 1199SEIU members and immigration advocates after the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration can revoke protections for Haitians and Syrians. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Think about that. The mayor of America’s largest city looked across the ocean before looking across his own boroughs. That tells you something. It tells you where his passion lives. It tells you what keeps him up at night, and it tells........

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