Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's threat to have him arrested during a UN visit in a Monday radio interview, telling host Sid Rosenberg of 77 WABC's "Sid & Friends in the Morning" that Mamdani should reconsider who he condemns and who he praises.
Rosenberg raised the question after noting that Netanyahu is expected to travel to New York in September to address the UN General Assembly, asking whether the prime minister was concerned about Mamdani's stated intention to have him arrested for war crimes upon arrival. Netanyahu said he wasn't worried, and turned the question back on Mamdani's own record. "I think he should take a look at who he condemns and who he praises," Netanyahu said. "He condemns Israel, the only democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values and fights shoulder to shoulder with America's brave soldiers."
The prime minister went on to argue that Mamdani effectively excuses Hamas and Iran rather than criticizing them, calling Iran "the world's leading terrorist regime" and noting that Iranian leadership has openly called for harm to President Trump and other senior American officials. "So he is standing with the forces of terror," Netanyahu said. "The problem is that he either doesn't understand, or doesn't care, that those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately also hate America. In fact, I think, deep down, he hates America." Rosenberg responded, "I'm no longer sure it's deep down."
The interview ranged across several other regional flashpoints. Asked about Israel's current position against Hezbollah and Iran, Netanyahu said that measured against where Israel stood on October 7, 2023, the country has pulled off "the greatest comeback in history." He argued that Iran's plan had been to use its proxies for simultaneous invasions while bombarding Israel with ballistic missiles and rockets, and that the plan failed because Iran itself has since been badly hurt by joint Israeli-American operations. He described Hamas as a shadow of its former self, said Hezbollah's missile arsenal has been reduced from roughly 150,000 to just 8 percent of its former capacity, noted that the Assad regime in Syria no longer exists, and said half of Yemen's Houthi leadership has been eliminated.
Netanyahu also addressed the prospect of the United States selling advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, a deal President Trump has signaled he is open to advancing. The prime minister said he has raised his opposition with Trump directly and made clear he does not believe Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should receive any additional weapons from Washington. "I'm not going to get into what I said to him, this is between me and him," Netanyahu said of his conversation with Trump, according to earlier reporting, though in this interview he stated plainly that he opposes the sale, citing Erdogan's hostile rhetoric toward Israel and his backing of Hamas.
The interview also touched on personal territory, with Netanyahu addressing the sudden death last week of Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican he described as a staunch supporter of Israel who understood that the security of Israel and America are intertwined. Netanyahu said he had spoken with Graham just days before his death about finishing off the remnants of Iran's regime and moving toward what Graham envisioned as a broader regional peace.
