Netanyahu accuses NYC Mayor Mamdani of 'fomenting hate' after arrest call, plans UN visit

Netanyahu's Fox News appearance

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures" and accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of "fomenting hate" after the mayor released a video calling him a "war criminal" and urging the federal government to arrest him under an International Criminal Court warrant. Netanyahu said he speaks with Jewish Americans in New York and they are "afraid right now."

He's fomenting hate. He's supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers, Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone. But he's trying to turn one group against the other.

Netanyahu directly linked Mamdani's video to a stabbing that occurred on the Upper West Side two days later, saying he did not think it was "accidental" that a Jewish man was stabbed after the mayor released what Netanyahu described as "hate speech against Israel and against me." He also accused Mamdani of having "celebrated" the October 7 Hamas attacks, a claim multiple outlets described as baseless, and said Mamdani was "supporting the Hamas murderers."

The Upper West Side stabbings

On Thursday afternoon, a man attacked two people in Manhattan's Upper West Side neighborhood. The assailant first stabbed 57-year-old Chok Sung, an Asian man, in the back with a knife, then stabbed Moshe Yezhak Grunhaus, 50, in the chest with a screwdriver as he left a Jewish religious service while wearing a yarmulke. The attacker yelled "Allahu akbar" during both assaults. Both victims survived the stabbings.

Police arrested Raul Morales, 51, and charged him on Friday with two counts of attempted murder as a hate crime. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said detectives were still investigating the motive. Morales did not have a documented history of mental health issues with the department, Tisch added, though his mental state may have played a role in the attacks.

ICC warrant and the UN visit

The clash centres on an International Criminal Court warrant issued in 2024 for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. The war in Gaza subsequently expanded: Israel joined the US in launching a war against Iran on February 28 before beginning a ground invasion in southern Lebanon in response to fire from Hezbollah.

Mamdani released a video on Tuesday calling Netanyahu a "war criminal" who is "not welcome" in New York City, while acknowledging the city lacks independent legal authority to execute the warrant. He urged the federal government to do so if Netanyahu travels to the UN General Assembly in September. Throughout his 2025 mayoral campaign, Mamdani had said he would seek to order the New York City police to execute the ICC warrant.

I intend to come and speak the truth, speak for Israel and for the Israeli-American alliance, from the podium of the United Nations.

Netanyahu dismissed the ICC charges as "bogus" during Sunday's interview and pointed to sexual misconduct allegations against the court's top prosecutor, who was removed from the post on Friday. He also said he was concerned that once-bipartisan political support for Israel in the US is at risk, particularly as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with what he called the "Mamdani wing of the party" have splintered from the traditional consensus.

Polling and public opinion

A June survey of more than 1,000 Jewish adults in the US by the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research found that about 44 percent viewed Mamdani somewhat or very favourably, while 39 percent viewed him somewhat or very unfavourably. In contrast, about one-third had a favourable opinion of Netanyahu, while roughly six in ten held an unfavourable view, including 42 percent with a very unfavourable opinion. The same poll found that 30 percent of Jewish adults believe Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

Mamdani's response

Asked about Netanyahu's comments on Sunday, Mamdani's spokesman Joe Calvello pointed to a New York Post interview with the mayor on Saturday, in which Mamdani said he was committed to countering antisemitism across the city. The mayor's office did not immediately respond to subsequent requests for comment on Sunday.