Mamdani accused of distracting from New York record over ICC threat

Key Points:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of attacking Israel to distract from his local governance issues after Mamdani called Netanyahu a "war criminal" and suggested exploring his arrest under an ICC warrant.
• Netanyahu's office dismissed the ICC warrant as illegitimate, labeling the court a "kangaroo court" without jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis, and criticized former ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan for issuing the warrant amid sexual misconduct allegations.
• Mamdani's stance sparked backlash from various political figures, including former NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Senator John Fetterman, who condemned the threat to arrest Netanyahu as reckless political theater that could endanger Americans abroad.
• Israel reaffirmed it would ignore the ICC warrant while conducting military operations against Hamas in Gaza, describing the group as a "genocidal terrorist organization" using civilians as human shields.
• Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo characterized Mamdani's actions as political grandstanding with no real chance of arresting Netanyahu during his anticipated visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly.