Just one day after causing an uproar by continuing to accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday issued a conciliatory message to the city’s Jewish population on the occasion of Tisha B’Av.
“Wishing a peaceful Tisha B’Av to Jewish New Yorkers across the five boroughs," Mamdani wrote in a post on social media.
“From sundown tonight until tomorrow, mourners will pause and reflect on the history and resiliency of the Jewish people. May all observing have a safe and meaningful fast," he added.
Mamdani’s post made no mention of Netanyahu or the video that Mamdani posted on Tuesday, in which he continued to attack Netanyahu as a “war criminal" even as he acknowledged that he lacks the authority to arrest Netanyahu if he visits the city.
“My administration has reviewed every avenue available, under applicable law, to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here. It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant," said Mamdani, who called on the federal government to join the ICC so it can enforce the arrest warrant against the Prime Minister.
Mamdani previously told The New York Times in an interview that he is exploring options to take Netanyahu into custody over the ICC warrant linked to the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Prime Minister's Office issued a scathing response to the mayor's comments: "The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis. Its bogus arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu was issued by a disgraced former ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan, a few days before allegations of sexual misconduct against him became public. It was a clear attempt by Khan to divert public attention and seek protection from scrutiny."
"Under Prime Minister Netanyahu's leadership, Israel has taken unprecedented wartime measures to minimize harm to civilians while confronting Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that uses Palestinians as human shields and deliberately targets innocent Israeli civilians," the office clarified.
"Instead of backing Khan's criminal behaviour, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York. Like Karim Khan, Mamdani appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East," the statement concluded.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the issue on Monday via Truth Social, writing that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape or form, while in the United States of America."
According to Trump, Netanyahu is "fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others."
He further insisted that "the only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!"