Netanyahu Rivals Accuse NYC's Mamdani of 'Pure Antisemitism' Over Calls to Arrest PM

Prominent anti-Netanyahu bloc frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot says the New York City mayor is attempting to 'rewrite history' after calling on the U.S. government to enforce the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu

July 22nd, 15PM July 22nd, 17PM

Israeli officials and opposition leader condemned New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing him of blood libel and even calling for his arrest, after the mayor urged the U.S. government to enforce the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mamdani said that New York City lacks the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu should he visit the city, but urged the federal government to enforce the ICC warrant against the Israeli prime minister.

"It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant. The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant," Mamdani said.

Eisenkot, former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff and current leader of the newly formed Yashar party, which has topped several recent polls ahead of next year's election, said Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was "the deadliest act of terrorism and antisemitic violence against the Jewish people since the Holocaust" and accused Mamdani of attempting to "rewrite history and turn the aggressor into the victim."

"No one can rewrite history and turn the aggressor into the victim. Nothing can obscure the atrocities committed by this abhorrent terrorist organization against civilians in their homes, in their own country," Eisenkot wrote in a post on X.

"The remarks by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are a reckless distortion of the truth. They are pure antisemitism, with no basis in fact. They are dangerous, inflammatory, and have no place anywhere – certainly not in 2026."

Eisenkot also rejected what he described as attempts to equate Hamas with the Israel Defense Forces.

"We will not accept any attempt to equate despicable terrorist organizations with the Israel Defense Forces – our safeguard," he wrote, adding that the military "operates according to clear values and in accordance with international law, with a deep conviction in the justice of its cause."

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli shared an edited photo of Mamdani with a Palestinian and Hamas flag, and the caption, "Mamdani stands with Hamas's murderers and rapists. If America truly values its freedom and refuses to live under Sharia law, it must defeat the Islamists like Mamdani, who hate everything America stands for."

Together party leader Naftali Bennett accused Mamdani of "antisemitic libels against Israel's prime minister, its commanders, and its soldiers," and sides the New York mayor with those who "protested on campuses on October 8th in support of genocidal Hamas."

"You're continuing a long tradition of attacking Jews and condemning us for defending ourselves," he wrote. "Since October 7th, Israel has been fighting a just war against a terrorist organization that murdered children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children, that maimed, that kidnapped, that raped and used sexual violence as a weapon. Your silence on their crimes is deafening."

Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz urged Mamdani to "focus on New York," accusing him of "p

In an interview on CNN, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Danny Danon said that Mamdani was using Netanyahu to "distract attention from his failures," and that the mayor's claims were "baseless." He added that the United States is not a signatory of the ICC so the "warrant here is not effective."

In a separate post on X, Danon called for Mamdani to be arrested.

The video renewed Mamdani's criticism of Netanyahu after he said in a recent interview with The New York Times that there was an "active conversation" within City Hall over whether New York could arrest the Israeli leader if he visited. He also called Netanyahu a "war criminal" and said he "belongs in The Hague."

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Israel rejects the allegations and disputes the court's jurisdiction.