The headline in The Times of Israel summed it up. It read: “Mamdani: Netanyahu should be arrested if he visits NYC; I’m discussing it but won’t rewrite laws,” with the subtitle, “New York mayor says he’s having ‘an active conversation’ with city’s legal department to see what steps he could take should the PM attend UN General Assembly in September.”
Well now. One might answer the mayor of New York who is saying this by suggesting he just might want to be careful if, in fact, he tried to do this.
To start, a look back at the wisdom of President Harry Truman (a Democrat!) about the creation of the United Nations might be in order. Truman, of course, was president following the death of Franklin Roosevelt at the end of World War II. The war had been the worst in world history. And there was overwhelming sentiment around the globe to ensure a world war never happened again.
Said Truman, to the group of those representing the signers of the U.N. Charter at the signing ceremony creating the U.N.: “The Charter of the United Nations, which you have just signed is a solid structure upon which we can build a better world. History will honor you for it.”
One can suspect that if Mayor Mamdani tries to arrest the prime minister of Israel when he visits New York for a speech at the United Nations, history will not be honoring the mayor.
It is also safe to say any attempt to arrest the mayor for an attempt to arrest the Israeli prime minister would ignite a firestorm. Doubtless the mayor would have some angry supporters on his side. That they would be antisemitic and anti-Israel would not be in much doubt. (RELATED: Mamdani Peddles the Myths Fueling Democrats’ Antisemitism)
But it is safe to say that there would also be a lot of nodding heads around New York and the rest of the country who would believe that if there was a move to arrest the mayor himself for his attempt to arrest the prime minister, he would just be getting equal treatment for his utter fascist-style attempt to arrest not just a head of state paying a professional visit to the United Nations but for attempting to arrest the prime minister of the world’s lone Jewish nation.
It is clear that even New York’s Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul does not support Mamdani’s hateful idea of arresting the Israeli Prime Minister. The Times of Israel has headlined: “NY governor says Mamdani can’t actually arrest Netanyahu,” with the subtitle, “Hochul distances herself from some of incoming mayor’s anti-Israel policies, after endorsing him during campaign.”
The Times story reports:
NEW YORK — New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Thursday that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani cannot arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after Mamdani’s repeated vows to do so if the Israeli leader visits.
Hochul’s statement came as she distanced herself from some of Mamdani’s anti-Israel policies ahead of the new mayor taking office on January 1.
Hochul is generally supportive of Israel, while Mamdani is a longtime anti-Israel activist who has alarmed many Jews with his antagonism toward the Jewish state. Hochul endorsed Mamdani’s mayoral campaign.
It would be hard to find a blunter assessment of the Democrat mayor than that — not to mention it is coming from the Democrat governor of New York.
So bottom line here?
Looking both at the mayor and beyond to the larger condition of the national Democrat Party, it is crystal clear that Democrats are having a serious internal problem with antisemitism. Whether it is coming from Mayor Mamdani or the more than 100 House Democrats who have now voted to end aid to Israel, the antisemitism and antipathy to the Jewish state could not be clearer. (RELATED: The New Brownshirts?)
But for the moment the focus is on New York’s Mayor Mamdani and his vow to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrives in New York to address the United Nations.
It is safe to say that were the mayor to carry through with his threat to arrest the prime minister, he would be starting an open season on the United Nations itself, as demands to arrest this or that foreign leader from someone’s disfavored nation when they travel to New York would become an open door to chaos. Chaos and the eventual dissolution of the United Nations itself, as this mayor or a future mayor would make it virtually impossible for this or that disfavored foreign leader to visit the U.N. and discuss the headlining problem of the moment.
The bottom line here is that Mayor Mamdani has opened the door to a United Nations filled with chaos. And the fact that he shows no awareness of his call to arrest the prime minister and the consequences that can flow from that says everything about the mayor’s distinct lack of leadership ability.
Which, in turn, suggests that the mayor’s political career is slowly self-immolating. With no one caring.
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