A foreign head of state is telling an American elected official what he can and cannot say — and the same Washington establishment that lectures Americans about foreign interference has nothing to say about it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of "fomenting hate" and "trying to turn one group against the other" because Mamdani called him a war criminal and said he should be arrested under an International Criminal Court warrant if he visits New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
The stakes are straightforward: an American citizen and elected mayor expressed a political position on a foreign leader's conduct. That foreign leader then used American airwaves to demand the mayor fall in line. Then the President of the United States immediately backed the foreign leader.
Netanyahu made the comments on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo." He claimed Mamdani "celebrated Oct. 7" and is "supporting the Hamas murderers" — though the New York Post, which reported those claims, noted Netanyahu "didn't present evidence" for the celebration accusation. Mamdani has said publicly: "I consider October 7 to be a horrific war crime."
The Post did report that Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, a Syrian-American artist, liked several Instagram posts on October 7, 2023, including one that read "Free Palestine" and another that said "if and when the occupation forces retaliate against this resistance — Punished for wanting freedom from apartheid." Duwaji apologized in April for "the hurt I caused" when pressed about past social media posts.
Mamdani campaigned on the ICC arrest warrant issue and said last week that while the city lacks legal authority to execute it, he encouraged the federal government to do so. "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 Wednesday.
Netanyahu dismissed the ICC charges as "bogus," pointing to sexual misconduct allegations against the court's top prosecutor, who was removed from his post Friday.
Then came the White House response. Trump posted Monday that Netanyahu "will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America." Netanyahu is expected in Washington Monday to meet with Trump and attend funeral services for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, whom Netanyahu called a "great patriot" and one of Israel's "greatest friends." Graham, a defense hawk and staunch Israel backer, died July 11.
Netanyahu also voiced concern that once-bipartisan support for Israel is fracturing as progressive Democrats align with Mamdani's position. He warned of rising antisemitism, saying Jews in New York "feel very uncomfortable."
The Guardian framed the dispute around Netanyahu's "fomenting hate" charge and the ICC warrant context. The Post led with the unsubstantiated "celebrated Oct. 7" claim and spotlighted Duwaji's social media history — framing that shifts the story from a free-speech clash between a foreign leader and an American official to a question of Mamdani's loyalties.
Here is the question neither outlet pressed: since when does a foreign head of state get to dictate what American officeholders can say on American soil? The same political class that spent years screaming about foreign interference in U.S. affairs can't seem to find its voice when the pressure comes from a leader demanding bipartisan loyalty and a presidential guarantee of immunity.
