{"id":11569,"date":"2026-07-23T08:45:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=11569"},"modified":"2026-07-23T08:45:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:45:55","slug":"columbia-professor-sparks-firestorm-over-netanyahu-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/columbia-professor-sparks-firestorm-over-netanyahu-remarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia Professor Sparks Firestorm Over Netanyahu Remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to Naomi Lim writing in <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, <strong>Mamdani<\/strong> this week repeated his intention to execute an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in 2024 against <strong>Netanyahu<\/strong> over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Despite acknowledging he lacks legal authority to carry out such an arrest, the mayor released a video claiming Israel targeted neonatal hospitals and maternity facilities, starved civilians, and killed aid workers.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-11569 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pence-3-300x200.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-11566\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pence-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pence-3-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pence-3.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-11566'>\n\t\t\t\tPhoto: washingtonexaminer.com\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Daniel-Ortega--300x200.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-11567\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Daniel-Ortega--300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Daniel-Ortega--768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Daniel-Ortega-.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-11567'>\n\t\t\t\tPhoto: washingtonexaminer.com\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The accusations have drawn fierce backlash from Jewish advocacy groups who say Mamdani is misrepresenting Israel&#8217;s response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre whilst ignoring the terrorist organisation&#8217;s role in murdering American and Israeli citizens.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Simon Wiesenthal Center<\/strong>, a Los Angeles-based pro-Israel organisation, issued a sharp rebuke stating that Mamdani&#8217;s rhetoric goes beyond criticism of Netanyahu personally. The group said the mayor repeatedly singles out Israel whilst using his office to legitimise language that isolates the Jewish state and deepens divisions domestically. With Jewish New Yorkers facing alarming antisemitism, harassment and intimidation, they deserve leadership that refrains from stoking hatred against the world&#8217;s only Jewish country, the organisation argued.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jonathan Greenblatt<\/strong>, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, accused Mamdani of obsessing over Israel even as Jewish residents experience record antisemitism and the city faces urgent problems requiring mayoral attention. Writing on X, Greenblatt stated that this fixation reveals both an antisemitic worldview driving Mamdani&#8217;s judgment and the behaviour of a perpetual student activist learning on the job at taxpayers&#8217; expense.<\/p>\n<p>The mayor has repeatedly vowed to arrest Netanyahu should the Israeli leader attend the United Nations General Assembly, which convenes annually in New York each September.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Danny Danon<\/strong>, Israel&#8217;s ambassador to the United Nations, told News Nation that it is Mamdani who deserves arrest for supporting terrorists including Hamas and Iran. Danon noted that days earlier, Mamdani sent his commissioner to meet with Iran&#8217;s UN representative whilst American soldiers fight Tehran&#8217;s regime. The ambassador also pointed out that weeks ago, the mayor described a terrorist eliminated by Israel as an innocent journalist, accusing Mamdani of instigating and promoting antisemitism.<\/p>\n<p>On X, Danon condemned what he termed Mamdani&#8217;s <em>blood libels<\/em>, asserting the mayor was elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas propaganda.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy has also ignited outrage amongst Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Representative <strong>Nancy Mace<\/strong> of South Carolina asked on X who wanted to see Mamdani denaturalised and deported back to where he came from.<\/p>\n<p>Other congressional Republicans, led by Representative <strong>Addison McDowell<\/strong> of North Carolina, are urging acting Attorney General <strong>Todd Blanche<\/strong> to investigate Mamdani&#8217;s administration. Their concerns centre on <strong>Ana Maria Archila<\/strong>, the mayor&#8217;s commissioner for international affairs, who scheduled a meeting with Iranian UN ambassador <strong>Amir Saeid Iravani<\/strong> this month before the State Department intervened to halt it.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter co-signed by 14 other Republican lawmakers, McDowell wrote that the lawmakers support President Trump&#8217;s efforts to strengthen American economic and national security interests in the Middle East and understand the delicate nature of ongoing peace negotiations. They believe a formal investigation is necessary to determine whether Archila, acting on behalf of Mamdani, engaged in unlawful activity or communication with the Islamic Republic of Iran.<\/p>\n<p>The Logan Act prohibits unauthorised Americans from negotiating with foreign governments involved in disputes with the United States, such as the ongoing nearly five-month conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, the State Department was forced to prevent another meeting between Mamdani&#8217;s administration and Colombian representatives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em>With information from <a href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington Examiner<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces condemnation from Jewish groups and Republicans for vowing to arrest Israeli PM Netanyahu despite lacking legal authority, with critics calling it antisemitic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":11568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[173,1052,279,2448,209,2638],"nfg_topic":[135],"class_list":["post-11569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-international-criminal-court","tag-israel","tag-new-york-city","tag-united-states","tag-zohran-mamdani","nfg_topic-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11570,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11569\/revisions\/11570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11569"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=11569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}