Mamdani Doubles Down on Netanyahu Criticism: “I Believe Him to Be a War Criminal”
September 23, 2026
“I HAVE DESCRIBED HIM AS I BELIEVE HIM TO BE, A WAR CRIMINAL.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani didn’t soften a word. Sitting down with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, he called Netanyahu exactly what the International Criminal Court itself has already accused him of being: a war criminal, and “an architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people.”
Pro-Israel Jewish leaders reportedly urged him behind closed doors to tone it down. He didn’t. Netanyahu responded with a video attack, accusing Mamdani of supporting Hamas. Mamdani’s answer was simple: “We all know that what the prime minister has said in that video is not true.”
He also said something bigger than a single interview: that New York is a city of international law, and standing behind that means honoring ICC warrants,for Netanyahu, for anyone even when he doesn’t personally have the power to enforce one.
This is what it looks like when a sitting mayor refuses to trade honesty for political comfort, even with the backlash guaranteed.
Source: @cnn
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English Script:
Interviewer: As you know, there’s a lot of worry and fear still amongst the Jewish population and the Jewish community of New York and perhaps around the country, very concerned about certain things. Now we have videos. We see you in Jewish neighborhoods. You’re being, you know, welcomed by Hasidic communities, Orthodox. You’re also being heckled by some the time you said in an interview that you would look into or order the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for what happened in Gaza. Even some of your supporters said you became a bridge breaker then instead of a bridge builder. In retrospect, do you think that that was a mistake to talk about arresting? It wasn’t in your purview. Was it a mistake, do you think you added to the fears of the Jewish community?
Mamdani: I have been clear about the way that I see the world, and I always own New Yorkers, that honesty when it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu, I have described him as I believe him to be a war criminal and an architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people. And I’ve also been honest with New Yorkers that New York City does not have the authority to carry out the ICC warrant, which, as you said, has been issued for Prime Minister Netanyahu, and that I do believe that that is something that should be honored, because what we want to see and we’ve been talking about this today, is a faith in our politics, a faith in accountability. You know, I recently met the mayor of The Hague here at U20. And the key thing he kept emphasizing to all of us was the importance of the rule of law. And if the International Criminal Court deems someone worthy of an arrest because of a violation of those laws, then who are we to say that anyone should be above that? And I think very clearly that everyone should be held accountable to it.
