{"id":13119,"date":"2026-08-01T21:48:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T18:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=13119"},"modified":"2026-08-01T21:48:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T18:48:36","slug":"israeli-president-palestinian-peace-requires-accepting-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/israeli-president-palestinian-peace-requires-accepting-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli President: Palestinian Peace Requires Accepting Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-13119 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=\"154\" src=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26146232383911-1-300x154.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-13116\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26146232383911-1-300x154.webp 300w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26146232383911-1-768x393.webp 768w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26146232383911-1.webp 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-1-13116'>\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\/08\/AP26212517375726-300x200.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-13117\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26212517375726-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26212517375726-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26212517375726.webp 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-1-13117'>\n\t\t\t\tPhoto: washingtonexaminer.com\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>In an interview with Fox News Digital published Saturday, as reported by Emily Hallas in <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, Herzog directly challenged Mamdani&#8217;s inflammatory statements targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The mayor has publicly demanded Netanyahu&#8217;s arrest, branding him a war criminal and labeling him the architect of what he termed genocide against Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Herzog<\/strong> expressed alarm that such language fuels antisemitic hatred, particularly in New York City, home to the largest Jewish population of any American city. <em>This cannot be accepted in New York<\/em>, Herzog stated, noting the city&#8217;s deep significance to Israelis and the global Jewish community.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mamdani<\/strong> has consistently rejected accusations of antisemitism. Yet his record on Jewish issues remains contentious. During his mayoral campaign last year, he refused to condemn the antisemitic slogans &#8220;globalize the intifada&#8221; and &#8220;from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,&#8221; claiming he interpreted them as expressions of a desire for equality. Controversy erupted again in March when his wife faced scrutiny over social media activity celebrating Hamas&#8217;s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israeli civilians, including posts dismissing reports of Hamas rape of Jewish women as a fabrication.<\/p>\n<p>Herzog accused Mamdani on Saturday of promoting hate-filled and antisemitic rhetoric that endangers his own constituents&#8217; safety and wellbeing. The Israeli president argued that Mamdani fundamentally rejects Israel&#8217;s right to self-determination, a position that threatens both Palestinian prospects for lasting peace and Jewish security.<\/p>\n<p>Israel remains a nation committed to peace, innovation, and humanitarian advancement, Herzog emphasized. He expressed hope for peace with regional neighbors, including Palestinians, but stressed this requires acceptance of Israel&#8217;s existence and recognition of its legitimate security requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Herzog pointed to viable plans currently under discussion for improving conditions in Gaza, including substantial financial commitments and development initiatives. However, he insisted one principle must remain non-negotiable: Hamas cannot retain control of Gaza or maintain it as a terrorist staging ground.<\/p>\n<h2>ICC Warrant Controversy<\/h2>\n<p>Mamdani and other Israel critics have cited the International Criminal Court&#8217;s arrest warrant for Netanyahu on genocide and war crimes charges as vindication of their position. Herzog challenged the warrant&#8217;s legitimacy this week, noting it was issued under questionable circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli president noted that ICC Chief Prosecutor <strong>Karim Khan<\/strong> issued the arrest warrants against Netanyahu amid allegations Khan sexually assaulted a staff member\u2014allegations that ultimately led ICC member states to vote for his removal from leadership. Herzog suggested the timing was calculated to deflect attention from Khan&#8217;s personal scandal.<\/p>\n<p>The clash highlights deepening tensions between progressive American political figures and Israel amid ongoing conflict in Gaza, where Hamas held power until recent ceasefire negotiations began producing withdrawal agreements.<\/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>Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s rhetoric against Israel, warning it fuels antisemitism and endangers Jewish communities in the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":13118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[173,10707,279,10513,2448,209,2638],"nfg_topic":[135],"class_list":["post-13119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-isaac-herzog","tag-israel","tag-israeli-palestinian-conflict","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\/13119","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=13119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13140,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13119\/revisions\/13140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13119"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=13119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}