NEW YORK — Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a longtime supporter of Israel who is running for New York City mayor, called for an end to the “horrific” war in Gaza on Monday.

“There is no doubt that the people of New York and the nation see the continued carnage that is happening and are deeply, deeply disturbed and want it over and believe it has gone on way too long,” Cuomo told The New York Times.

“It should end today. Return the hostages, end the violence. Today. I think it should have been over months ago. It is horrific,” Cuomo said.

He also condemned the front-runner in the mayoral race, the far-left Israel critic Zohran Mamdani, for his call to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mamdani doubled down on his vow to arrest Netanyahu this week, despite legal experts saying that, as mayor, he would not have the ability to do so and that such an arrest would be illegal.

“I don’t think the mayor of New York should be exercising his or her political judgment in arresting world leaders based on their politics,” Cuomo said.

Nonetheless, Cuomo distanced himself from Netanyahu in the NYT interview. Last year, Cuomo volunteered to join the Israeli premier’s defense team to help repel the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the prime minister. Cuomo said in the interview that he meant to contest the court’s jurisdiction, not claims about Netanyahu’s complicity in war crimes, and indicated that he had not allied himself with the prime minister over the issue. “I never stood with Bibi,” Cuomo said, using Netanyahu’s nickname.

Mamdani has cited the court’s warrant as his grounds for arresting Netanyahu.

Cuomo declined to say if the Israeli military has committed war crimes in Gaza.

Later Monday, at a press event, Cuomo seemed to walk back the criticism of Israel expressed in The Times interview.

“I have not shifted my position at all. I am a proud supporter of Israel,” he said. “The situation is horrific. The carnage is horrific. I pray for peace. I pray for an end to the violence. I pray for the hostages to be returned, and Hamas has to be eliminated.”

A Cuomo spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, posted on X that, when Cuomo said he never stood with Netanyahu, he was referring to political support, and that........

© The Times of Israel