Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’ and calls ICC war-crimes charges ‘bogus’

Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’ and calls ICC war-crimes charges ‘bogus’ 1 of 4 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the state memorial for Ze’ev Jabotinsky, at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) 2 of 4 | New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, center, walks in the 57th annual NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 28, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) 3 of 4 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves the courtroom after his hearing on corruption charges at the district court in east Jerusalem, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) 4 of 4 | New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers a speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States at City Hall on Friday July 3, 2026 in New York. (Anna Connors/The New York Times via AP, Pool) 1 of 4 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the state memorial for Ze’ev Jabotinsky, at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) 1 of 4 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the state memorial for Ze’ev Jabotinsky, at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 4 | New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, center, walks in the 57th annual NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 28, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) 2 of 4 New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, center, walks in the 57th annual NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 28, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 4 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves the courtroom after his hearing on corruption charges at the district court in east Jerusalem, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) 3 of 4 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves the courtroom after his hearing on corruption charges at the district court in east Jerusalem, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 4 | New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers a speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States at City Hall on Friday July 3, 2026 in New York. (Anna Connors/The New York Times via AP, Pool) 4 of 4 New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers a speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States at City Hall on Friday July 3, 2026 in New York. (Anna Connors/The New York Times via AP, Pool) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly.Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani said last week that while New York City does not have legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world’s top war-crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so.“He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers — Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone,” Netanyahu said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo. “But he’s trying to turn one group against the other.” The prime minister has become an increasingly polarizing figure over Israel’s war in Gaza, which was ignited by the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants. Israel also joined the U.S. in starting the war against Iran on Feb. 28 before launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon in response to fire from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed the International Criminal Court’s war crimes charges against him as “bogus.” He pointed to sexual misconduct allegations against the ICC’s top prosecutor, who was removed from that post on Friday, and said the warrant was an attempt to divert attention.The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday. Bipartisan U.S. support for Israel at risk, Netanyahu saysNetanyahu said he was concerned that once-bipartisan political support for Israel in the U.S. is at risk, particularly as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with the Mamdani wing of the party splinter. He also warned against rising antisemitism in the U.S. and other Western countries, saying that when he talks to people in New York City, home to the second-largest Jewish population in the world, “Jews feel very uncomfortable.” “And I think it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong,” he said. Throughout his mayoral election campaign last year, Mamdani said he would seek to order the city’s police to execute the ICC’s arrest warrant over Netanyahu’s role in the war in Gaza.But Mamdani acknowledged last week that his city did not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu and called on federal authorities to step in. “I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” he said in a video message.He told New Yorkers that he understood their frustration and that expressions of protest is something the city would “always respect.”The Hague-based court has accused Netanyahu, his former defense minister and the late leader of Hamas of crimes against humanity. The Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry says over 73,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive — roughly half of them women and children. Some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the initial Hamas attack on Israel. Trump told Netanyahu in a social media post Monday that he “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”Graham, a leading defense hawk and strong supporter of Israel, died suddenly two weeks ago of a likely torn aorta. The prime minster called him an “extraordinary American patriot.”Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.