‘Israeli’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed concerns about visiting New York City under its newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who has vowed to arrest him over an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.
Netanyahu, speaking in an interview with Australian journalist Erin Molan, reacted strongly to Mamdani’s anti-‘Israel’ stance, calling the threats unfounded and predicting a bleak future for the city under socialist policies.
Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic socialist and former New York State Assembly member, made history by winning the 2025 New York City mayoral election on November 4, defeating Independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa with 50.4% of the vote.
As the first Muslim, South Asian, and youngest mayor in over a century, Mamdani’s victory energized progressive voters but drew criticism for his vocal opposition to ‘Israel’.
He assumes office on January 1, 2026, amid debates over his platform, which includes affordable housing and police reform.
During his campaign, Mamdani pledged to honor the ICC’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu for his war crimes in Gaza, stating he would direct the NYPD to detain the ‘Israeli’ leader if he enters the city.
Legal experts have called this promise unenforceable, as local authorities lack jurisdiction over international warrants without federal involvement.
Mamdani doubled down on the vow in October, framing it as a stand against what he termed genocide in the ‘Israeli’ assault on Gaza.
Netanyahu, undeterred, told Molan, “Hell no, of course not,” when asked if he feared arrest in New York.
He criticized Mamdani as a “young uneducated leader” lacking knowledge of economics and antisemitism, urging him to “get his act together” before making such statements.
Netanyahu said he is willing to have dialogue with Mamdani if he educates himself on these issues, per his expression.
The prime minister linked Mamdani’s socialist policies to economic failure, drawing from ‘Israel’s’ own shift away from socialism under his leadership, which he credited with boosting growth and reducing inequality.
He warned that such approaches could bankrupt New York, stating, “That’s where NY might be headed.”
Netanyahu also connected rising antisemitism to societal collapse, noting it “always collapses societies” by targeting Jews first, then other groups.
He predicted a “very dim future” for New York under Mamdani.
Dozens of Democratic candidates running for U.S. House seats nationwide told Axios they either would not support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for party leader or were not prepared to commit to voting for him.
The responses suggest growing unease within some parts of the Democratic Party about its current leadership as the 2026 election cycle approaches, the outlet reported this week.
Since assuming the role of Democratic leader in 2022, Hakeem Jeffries has maintained unanimous support within his caucus. That unity, however, may be tested in the next Congress amid rising frustration from grassroots activists, particularly on the party’s left flank.
While Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has drawn much of the criticism from progressive circles this year, Jeffries is increasingly becoming a focal point of dissatisfaction as well, Axios noted.
Axios contacted nearly every Democrat running for a U.S. House seat considered potentially winnable for the party in 2026, receiving responses from 113 candidates through phone interviews or written statements.
Of those surveyed, 20 said they would not vote for Hakeem Jeffries as speaker or minority leader, while another five indicated they were likely to oppose him. Fifty-seven candidates declined to commit to supporting Jeffries, describing it as too early to decide or citing concerns over ideology, strategy, messaging, or leadership style.
Only 24 respondents said they would definitely back Jeffries, and seven more said they were likely to do so, the outlet said.
However, his office pushed back on the narrative that he’s lost support.
“Leader Jeffries is focused on battling Donald Trump, ending the Republican shutdown of the federal government and addressing the crushing GOP health care crisis,” Jeffries spokesperson Justin Chermol told Axios.
Many of the Democrats expressing skepticism toward Hakeem Jeffries are political outsiders or long-shot candidates, while several front-runners in key battleground races declined to respond to Axios’ inquiries. Still, a number of Jeffries’ critics and noncommittal candidates have credible paths to winning seats in Congress.
Among them are Daniel Biss and Kat Abughazaleh, two leading contenders in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), both of whom stopped short of pledging to support Jeffries.
Other prominent challengers — including Luke Bronin, Donavan McKinney, Mai Vang, Saikat Chakrabarti, and Patrick Roath — have also withheld their support. Each is running well-funded campaigns aimed at unseating long-serving Democratic incumbents.
Heath Howard, a New Hampshire state representative running for an open U.S. House seat, told Axios regarding the Democratic leader: “I think we need to have a new type of leadership that’s … going to fight back significantly harder against the Trump administration.”
Abughazaleh, meanwhile, told Axios she will support a leader who is “taking actual action against this administration” and that the left should use “our leverage to demand progressive change.”
“We’ve got to see improvement, without question,” Amanda Edwards, who was a member of the Houston city council and is now running in a Texas special election, told the outlet.
Harry Jarin, a firefighter mounting a primary challenge to former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), told Axios: “The anger of the base right now is not being matched by Democratic leadership … and that is going to have to change one way or another.”
A recurring theme among candidates who declined to back Jeffries was his refusal to endorse socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — a decision that has also become a source of frustration among left-wing members of Congress.
“His refusal to endorse Zohran makes me nervous that, if I were to become the nominee in my race, he and the party would not support me,” noted Jacob Lawrence, who is set to challenged Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.).
Chakrabarti, when asked whether he would support for Jeffries, quipped: “What is it that Hakeem said about endorsing Zohran? ‘I’ll have conversations with him and see where it goes.\’”