Bibi Netanyahu is in the United States for another meeting with President Trump, the eighth since he assumed office in January 2025.
The meeting comes amid heightened tensions after NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he would seek to implement the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu when the Prime Minister visits New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Since arriving in Washington this week, Netanyahu has participated in a myriad of television interviews in which he audaciously condemned Mayor Mamdani for, quote, “fomenting hate against NYC Jews.” Netanyahu further asserted that he has spoken with New York City’s Jews and that we are, allegedly, afraid of Mamdani.
Netanyahu’s approach to politicizing criticism of Israel is unprecedented in the damage it is capable of causing, yet it remains a familiar tactic within the Zionist playbook.
Mamdani is not conflating Jews with Israel. On the contrary, unlike many so-called “pro-Jewish politicians,” he has been exceedingly careful not to conflate the Jewish identity of his constituents with that of a foreign state. He has deliberately and precisely grounded his criticism in the actions of the Israeli government and in what he believes those actions warrant.
The people who are hellbent on creating a hostility charged environment in which a mayor cannot voice criticism of a political leader without being branded some “Jew-hater” are Zionist institutions. They are the ones spearheading the campaign to enmesh Jewish identity with the State of Israel. Zohran Mamdani is not doing that. Zionists are.
What truly endangers the Jewish people is the false association between Jews and the Israeli government. Its actions are broadcast for the entire world to witness. Why should Zionists be allowed to fuel antisemitism while simultaneously deflecting responsibility and claiming to “care” about combating it?
Netanyahu, in his predictable manipulative efforts, has completely circumvented the fundamental point that Jews should never be associated with the State of Israel in the first place. Instead, he has blamed Mamdani for a phenomenon in which he himself is actively participating, and which is precisely what places Jews at risk.
We, New York City’s Jews, oppose the efforts of Israeli leaders to stir resentment within our city and, not so respectfully, tell Netanyahu in our name: Get out of our country and leave American Jews alone.