We can’t help wondering why Zohran Mamdani is doubling down on his anti-Israel fervor even as he tries to soften his far-left edges on other issues in the mayoral campaign’s final two months.
He last week pointedly informed The New York Times that he still plans to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if Israel’s prime minister dares show his face in Zoh’s NYC, claiming Gotham must be a “city that stands up for international law.”
This is anti-Israel propaganda piled on propaganda, with a solid dose of legal fantasy: That “arrest warrant” from International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Kahn, announced bare days after he took the job with zero pretense of evidence-gathering, doesn’t apply in the United States.
Washington, like several other major powers, has never recognized the ICC (founded in 2002) because it’s plainly prone to politicization, with the Bibi “warrants” a prime example.
Which means the New York police would be obligated to defy Mayor Mamdani’s illegal order to arrest Netanyahu.
And if Zoh managed to corrupt the NYPD enough to create a unit that would try such a stunt, they’d have to battle federal security to get anywhere near the Israeli leader.
All this vow really does is reinforce Mamdani’s lifelong hatred of the Jewish state.
Taking the Jew-bashing up another notch, he’s let it be known he’ll reverse Mayor Eric Adams’ executive order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism as the city’s standard.
Under the IHRA approach, calling to destroy the state of Israel, calling it a Nazi state or blaming American Jews for Israeli actions all count as antisemitic; Mamdani says that’s too confining for him.
Indeed, Zohran wants to destroy Israel and has pushed for state laws to punish local synagogues for supporting it.
And he can’t be an antisemite: Some of his best friends are Jews!
Mamdani has also announced he won’t interfere with pro-Hamas rioters’ “First Amendment” activities, including blocking traffic or taking over university buildings (and he plans to disband the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, which handles major unrest events as well as terrorist acts).
Instead of arrests, Mamdani prefers “dialogue”; let’s see how that goes when anti-Israel mobs camp out in front of the Lincoln Tunnel or march down Eastern Parkway and attack synagogues.
All this, when the candidate is (rhetorically) abandoning his outright cop-bashing: He says he plans to “apologize” to the Finest for calling them violent, out-of-control racists, and no longer even wants to defund the NYPD.
He’s even distancing himself from his past calls to legalize “sex work.”
Now, maybe the get-tougher-on-Israel tactic is about tossing some Jew-hating red meat to distract his hardcore Democratic Socialist pals from his other “moderation.”
But no one seriously believes that softening: It’s blatantly just a post to give liberals an excuse to pretend Mamdani isn’t poised to make Bill de Blasio look like a rock-ribbed Republican.
No: Mamdani’s ferocious anti-Zionism (at the least) is a clear declaration of intent: The day he takes over as mayor, it’s open season on anyone and everyone who even looks like they support Israel.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
