Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar dismissed Zohran Mamdani’s repeated claims that he would order the NYPD to detain Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, telling The NY Post during a Monday interview that he had no interest in sparring over the law with New York’s incoming mayor.
Sa’ar made clear that Mamdani’s campaign-trail rhetoric had zero impact on Israel’s plans. Sitting in a Midtown Manhattan hotel, he stressed to the Post that Netanyahu’s travel decisions remain unchanged, regardless of the mayor-elect’s threats. “I don’t want to enter into a legal debate with the elected mayor of New York,” Sa’ar said. He then reiterated Netanyahu’s own words: “But I will only say or repeat what the prime minister had said himself, he will come to New York.”
Mamdani — a Democratic Socialist and outspoken critic of Israel — has long declared that if he won the mayoralty, he would instruct the NYPD to enforce the International Criminal Court’s warrant for Netanyahu over the Gaza conflict. His vow immediately set him at odds with state leadership.
Gov. Kathy Hochul sharply rejected Mamdani’s claim that he had such power, noting that no New York City mayor has authority to execute an ICC order. “No, I do not, and the New York City mayor has not had the power to do that,” Hochul said last week when asked whether Netanyahu could be arrested upon arrival.
The situation also places Mamdani in an awkward position with his own police commissioner–designate, Jessica Tisch, a proud Zionist from a leading Jewish family in the city. Since announcing her appointment, the mayor-elect has avoided commenting on whether he still intends to pursue his arrest pledge.
Repeated inquiries to Mamdani’s transition office on Monday about whether he still stands by that vow went unanswered.
Despite the escalating rhetoric, Sa’ar said he was not closing the door on the possibility of future dialogue with New York’s next mayor, even if he had doubts about where that relationship might lead. “I hope that we will have, in the future, maybe, a constructive dialogue, even though I can be skeptical about it,” he said.
Netanyahu himself has been more direct, signaling he sees no point in engaging with Mamdani unless the mayor-elect fundamentally shifts his stance. “If [Mamdani] changes his mind and says that we have the right to exist, that’ll be a good opening for a conversation,” Netanyahu said last week when asked whether he would initiate contact with the incoming mayor.
While Mamdani has stated publicly that Israel has “a right to exist,” he repeatedly declines to affirm that it has the right to exist as a Jewish state.
{Matzav.com}
Mondani is no threat to Israel. If he really was the Mossad knows what to do. They did it to bigger enemies like heads of Hamas and hesballah. The most he will cause is more blacks killing blacks as police look the other way just as other liberal big cities.Homeless will sleep all over the free busses and trains especially as he comes into winter time in January. They don’t want to be in dangerous shelters. He’s going to appoint psychologist to handle crime. You know what therapists charge an hour for coming to their office. Double that for making visits to buses and trains to talk to homeless druggies. Police get paid peanuts compared to these therapists. There may be free groceries as many will be looted. With everything being free who will pay the bus drivers and mechanics to maintain the busses. Half the police will retire very quickly or switch to other cities. Banks may as well put up bullet proof windows all over as police are not goingvtobrespondbto quickly and get into a shootout with bank robbers. They will let the therapist talk to the robbers instead. It will be a real Chelm. Just wait. Trump will stand by saying I told you so.
The whole thing is a joke like every politician promises the world but delivers not much. Religious yidden will continue to daven,continue to marry and have large families,continue to be Frum Jews long after Mamdani is gone. We stand in a world with seventy plus wolves as one lonely sheep. But we have an infinite Shepherd. We are not worried. We existed in a dark world 2000 years we will continue until Mossiach knocks on n the door and all of the world goes into shock zone.