Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of “fomenting hate” and aligning with Hamas, linking recent anti-Israel rhetoric to rising fear among Jewish residents of NYC.
In an interview on Fox News‘ “Sunday Morning Futures,” the premier dismissed Mamdani’s threat to arrest him during his September visit to address the United Nations General Assembly based on the ICC’s “bogus charges” of war crimes.
The NYC mayor is “trying to turn one group against the other, and he’s foisting hate and fear,” Netanyahu said. “I speak to Jewish-Americans in New York and they’re afraid right now.”
Referring to Mamdani’s recent “hate speech against Israel and me,” Netanyahu linked it to a stabbing days later of a Jewish man on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
“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 asserted.
Turning the tables, Netanyahu accused Mamdani of supporting the “Hamas murderers who raped our women, then beheaded them, burnt babies alive, slaughtered our men, took innocent people hostages: 251 men, women, children, babies. That’s who he’s supporting.”
Hamas “are the ones responsible for genocide,” Netanyahu said, referring to the terrorist group’s charter and proclamations to kill “every single Jew in Israel and every Jew in the world.” Jerusalem is “trying to fight this genocidal terrorist organization that embeds itself among civilians.”
“That’s where the real criminals are, but Mamdani is aligning himself with the criminals, with these murderers. But the worst thing is that he’s tormenting his own citizens, his own voters. No, that is wrong,” he said.
On Iran, Netanyahu said the war would end when Tehran either changes course or its regime is weakened enough to halt its nuclear ambitions. He said joint Israeli and U.S. operations had set back Iran’s nuclear program by “a good few years,” including the killing of 20 nuclear scientists and damage to key facilities.
He warned that any Iranian attack on Israel—directly or through proxies—would trigger a “very, very forceful” response.
Addressing Lebanon, Netanyahu said Israel has significantly degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities, claiming about 94% of its missile arsenal had been destroyed. He pointed to ongoing U.S.-mediated talks with Lebanon as a potential pathway toward disarming Hezbollah and advancing a future peace agreement.
On regional diplomacy, Netanyahu expressed support for a potential U.S.-brokered deal in which Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel in exchange for a civilian nuclear program, emphasizing that such a program must not include military capabilities.
He also said Israel is in contact with additional Arab states about expanding the Abraham Accords but declined to name them.
Netanyahu voiced concern about what he described as rising antisemitism within parts of the Democratic Party, warning that intimidation of lawmakers could undermine bipartisan U.S. support for Israel.
