Benjamin Netanyahu fired back at Zohran Mamdani this week, openly mocking the socialist mayor-elect’s vow to have him arrested on war-crimes charges if he ever set foot in New York.
Speaking remotely from Israel during the DealBook Summit at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister didn’t hesitate when asked whether he planned to return.
“I’ll come to New York,” Netanyahu said with a shrug. “Yes, of course I will.”
Mamdani, who campaigned on enforcing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu over the war in Gaza, had previously pledged to detain the prime minister if he visited the city.
Netanyahu brushed off the threat — and went a step further by making clear he wouldn’t be meeting with the incoming mayor anytime soon.
Asked whether he would request a sit-down with Mamdani, Netanyahu said he’d only consider it under one condition: that the mayor-elect recognize Israel’s right to exist.
“If [Mamdani] changes his mind and says that we have the right to exist, that’ll be a good opening for a conversation,” Netanyahu told the audience.
The exchange has only heightened tensions as Mamdani prepares to take office — and as Netanyahu signals he has no intention of avoiding New York despite the looming political standoff.
