Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar dismissed threats by New York City’s incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani, who vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in the city.
Speaking to the New York Post from a Midtown hotel on Monday, Sa’ar made clear that Mamdani’s rhetoric had no bearing on Netanyahu’s travel plans.
“I don’t want to enter into a legal debate with the elected mayor of New York,” Sa’ar said. “But I will only say or repeat what the prime minister had said himself, he will come to New York.”
Mamdani, who has repeatedly accused Israel of war crimes in its battle against Hamas in Gaza, has vowed to arrest Netanyahu if he visits New York City, citing the arrest warrant that was issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The pledge has been rejected by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who stressed last week that Mamdani had no authority to carry out such an arrest. “No, I do not, and the New York City mayor has not had the power to do that,” Hochul said.
Despite the controversy, Sa’ar expressed cautious openness to dialogue with the mayor-elect. “I hope that we will have, in the future, maybe, a constructive dialogue, even though I can be skeptical about it,” he told the Post.