Exclusive | Israeli foreign minister laughs off Zohran Mamdani’s threats to arrest Netanyahu: ‘Don’t want to enter into legal debate’ with NYC mayor
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar shrugged off the threat that Mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani had raised – the former’s promise to have the New York City Police Department detain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should the Israeli leader land in Manhattan. In an exclusive interview on Monday, Sa’ar said the mayor’s campaign rhetoric was “absolutely not a factor in how we plan Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit.”
From a Midtown hotel, Sa’ar made it clear that he had no intention of engaging in a “legal debate” with the incoming mayor: “I don’t want to enter into a legal debate with the elected mayor of New York,” he told The Post. He went on to say he would only repeat what the Prime Minister had already said, echoing Netanyahu’s assertion that he would indeed travel to the Big Apple.
Mamdani, a far‑left member of the Democratic Socialists of America, repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail that, if elected, he would instruct the NYPD to enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant linking Netanyahu to the Gaza war. His pledge has drawn criticism from several quarters, most notably from Governor Kathy Hochul, who reminded reporters that the city’s mayor “has no legal authority to carry out an ICC arrest order.” “No, I do not, and the New York City mayor has not had the power to do that,” Hochul affirmed.
The alleged order would also strain the relationship between Mamdani and his choice for police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, a proud Zionist from one of the city’s most prominent Jewish families. Since Tisch’s appointment last month, the mayor‑elect has remained vague about the ICC vow.
Calls to Mamdani’s transition team with the question of whether the pledge would be enacted went unanswered on Monday. Still, Sa’ar left the door open for future engagement with the mayor, even while acknowledging her outspoken criticism of Israel and her support for Palestinians. “I hope that we will have, in the future, maybe, a constructive dialogue, even though I can be skeptical about it,” Sa’ar said Monday morning.
Netanyahu was less receptive to the idea of a conversation with the incoming mayor. Asked whether he would seek a dialogue with Mamdani, the Israeli leader responded: “If [Mamdani] changes his mind and says that we have the right to exist, that’ll be a good opening for a conversation.” Mamdani, who is set to take office on January 1, 2026, has stated that Israel has a right to exist but has refrained from affirming its right to exist as a Jewish state.
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