Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of stoking antisemitism, says Democrats privately fear radical fringe

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of fomenting antisemitism and directly blamed his anti-Israel rhetoric for a climate of fear gripping Jewish residents.

Mr. Netanyahu said that Jewish friends of his in New York have told him they are afraid to wear yarmulkes in public, suggesting it was “not accidental” that a Jewish man was stabbed outside a synagogue the day after what the Israeli leader called Mr. Mamdani’s “hate speech.”

“I don’t think it’s accidental that after he made this hate speech against Israel and against me, the next day a Jew is stabbed coming out of a synagogue — I think with a cry of ‘Allah Akbar,’” he said during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“Jews feel very uncomfortable,” he said. ”I speak to quite a lot of my friends, and they say, ‘It’s like a different world. We’re afraid to go into the streets. We certainly do not want to wear yarmulkes or any clothing that would give away that we’re Jews.’”

The Israeli leader also said leading Democrats have told him privately they were intimidated into joining the radical faction of their party.

“I’m worried about the reasons that leading Democrats have said privately — one of them said it, actually, publicly — of why they joined the radical fringe,” he said.

“And the reason is that their family has been harassed, that they’re afraid of being tailed everywhere and being intimidated by this radical fringe. That’s really something that should worry every American.”

Mr. Netanyahu, who is expected to visit Washington on Tuesday, said Mr. Mamdani should be the mayor for all New Yorkers regardless of faith but that he is “trying to turn one group against the other and he’s foisting hate and fear,” adding that he celebrated the October 7, 2023 massacre of Israelis perpetrated by Hamas.

Mr. Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, told The New York Times last week in a video podcast interview that he believed Mr. Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague.”

“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” he said.

Mr. Netanyahu is expected to visit New York City in September to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly.

Mr. Mamdani said he would “follow the laws” in New York City “because I believe that there is an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city, and that’s something that I plan to do.”

However, the New York mayor has called on his supporters to protest Mr. Netanyahu when he arrives in the city, angering the New York City Police Department.

During last year’s New York City mayoral race, according to Politico, outside advisers told Mr. Mamdani to stop making publicly threatening comments about arresting Mr. Netanyahu, cautioning that focusing too much on the issue could put him in a politically risky situation.