Sen. John Fetterman took aim at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s over his threat against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Pennsylvania Democrat ripped Mamdani after the Democratic socialist called Netanyahu a “war criminal” and said the prime minister “belongs in The Hague.”
“Well, [he’s] such a tough guy to say that kind of thing. He has no way to do that. Of course, obviously, America’s not even part of that corrupt court,” Fetterman told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo.
The warning to Netanyahu began with Mamdani’s interview with The New York Times, where he said City Hall lawyers were looking at his options if Netanyahu appears in New York for the Sept. 8 UN General Assembly meeting.
Fetterman treated the idea as both impossible and outside Mamdani’s lane.
“He’s [Mamdani is] just a clown to even say that, so he won’t try that. Just sit down and focus on other… problems that they have in New York. That’s really not your purview. You and I know that. Sit down.”
The backlash centered on what Mamdani said about the foreign leader himself.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said.
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“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court. And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”
The mayor’s answer was that he would go as far as New York City law allowed.
“I’ve also said that I will follow the laws that we have here in New York City because I believe that there is an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city,” Mamdani told the outlet.
He also confirmed the Law Department was already looking at the question.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do,” Mamdani said.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz treated the arrest talk as a legal nonstarter and dismissed it as “pure political theater.”
“Federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes,” Waltz tweeted.
His legal argument pointed straight at Washington’s authority over New York City’s wishes.
“1. The US is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the ICC, 2. The UN Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of gov’t, 3. head-of-state immunity applies, & 4. federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes,” he wrote.
House Republicans turned the attack back on Mamdani’s city record, accusing him of politicizing law enforcement while ignoring rent, housing and antisemitism.
“Mamdani is threatening to arrest the head of one of our closest allies,” House Republicans posted.
“He should stop politicizing local law enforcement and interfering with US foreign policy and instead focus on rising rent and housing prices and antisemitism in NYC.”
Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams cast Mamdani’s threat as unserious protest politics, not city leadership.
“This isn’t a college protest. This is the City of New York. Threatening to arrest the democratically elected leader of one of America’s closest allies during UN General Assembly week isn’t bold. It’s reckless,” Adams tweeted.
Adams also said he “looks forward” to welcoming Netanyahu in a couple of months.
Mamdani’s “war criminal” attack is tied to the ICC warrant issued for Netanyahu on Nov. 21, 2024.
The warrant accuses Netanyahu of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict, allegations Israel rejects while disputing the court’s jurisdiction.
The U.S. also sits outside the Rome Statute, leaving it without the same arrest-and-surrender duties imposed on ICC member states.
Netanyahu’s office answered by putting Mamdani in the same category as the court figures it accused of targeting Israel for political cover.
“The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis,” Netanyahu’s office wrote Sunday on X.
The post was made amid recent reports that Netanyahu is nearing a White House trip to meet with President Donald Trump.
“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,” Netanyahu’s office stated. “
It was a clear attempt by Khan to divert public attention and seek protection from scrutiny.”
The office accused Mamdani of following the same pattern.
“Instead of backing Khan’s criminal behaviour, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York,” the post continued.
“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.”
Netanyahu’s office also defended Israel’s conduct during the war.
“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’s post read.
The same Times interview handed the Trump administration another opening when Mamdani defended New York City’s sanctuary status.
Mamdani said he was proud of New York’s sanctuary posture and drew a line at helping with civil immigration enforcement.
“What we are unwilling to do is to participate in civil immigration enforcement with a federal government that has said openly it wants to deport a vast majority of people for crimes that we will never even know,” he said.
When The Times asked whether he had been to the US-Mexico border, Mamdani answered, “No.”
Homan’s response was to promise more ICE activity in the city, not less.
“It’s coming,” White House border czar Tom Homan told the hosts of “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday.
“ICE is operating in New York City today. We’re operating across the state today, but there’s going to be a surge, and there needs to be a surge,” he said.
He refused to give opponents a preview.
“But I am not going to show our hand because there are… well-funded groups who will try to impede, interfere. We’re not going to give them any upside on this,” he added.
On deportations, Homan treated Mamdani’s objection as an argument with the law itself.
“He’s damn right. Every illegal alien in this nation that’s here illegally, [and] crossed the border illegally, which is a crime, needs to be deported,” Homan said.
“That’s called the rule of law. If he doesn’t like it, call your members of Congress, tell them to change the law.”
