We are in the home stretch of the New York City mayoral race, with early voting set to begin in less than two weeks and the election itself scheduled for November.
Frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has already been hit with several October surprises.
Now, however, he has hit himself with one by committing to arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he comes to New York City.
On Nov. 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu for alleged war crimes.
The charges stated, “Allegedly responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.”
When the charges were announced, they were condemned and considered ridiculous by most politicians here in the United States, save the House "Squad" and the radical left, who would love to push this narrative about Netanyahu.
Netanyahu also responded to the charges, stating, "The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way."
Mamdani, of course, is part of the radical left flank that believes Israel was in the wrong in just about everything it did during its conflict with Hamas, so it was not exactly a surprise to see him say he would enforce the warrant.
When asked about arresting Netanyahu if he were to pass through New York City, Mamdani responded, "I’ve said that this is a city that believes international law, and this is a city that wants to uplift and uphold those beliefs.”
When Mamdani was reminded that the United States does not stand by the ICC, he responded, "The Criminal Court, however, has issued a warrant for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu, as it has for Vladimir Putin. I've said that I believe that we should uphold arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court and that we would… do so only in abiding with all of the laws in front of us."
The cherry on top of this radical sundae is that Mamdani also refused to give Trump any credit for the peace deal between Hamas and Israel, stating, "To any extent, credit or not, I think it's too early to do so, too early to say. But if it proves to be something that is lasting, something that is durable, then I think that that's where you give credit."
Later today, Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo will be facing off in a debate ahead of the New York City mayoral election, and it will be Cuomo’s last chance to dig into that massive lead of Mamdani’s before the vote. (Mamdani is currently up by 13 points, and GOP candidate Sliwa, to this point, has not budged on dropping out of the race).
Cuomo is planning a barrage of attacks against Mamdani, with Andrew Kirtzman, a longtime communications strategist, explaining, “Cuomo will be working feverishly to throw Mamdani off balance and expose him as the radical he says he is. But I have yet to see Mamdani get tripped up on anything significant this campaign -- he’s phenomenally fast on his feet.”
Republican hopeful Curtis Sliwa will also be taking part in the debate, so there is a chance that the two campaigns could coordinate an attack against Mamdani to have him reeling. Sliwa, for all his faults, is capable of dropping bombs on the debate stage, so he will definitely make things interesting.
If Mamdani wins this election, I know people will fault Sliwa for staying in the race, but I am not going that route. I still fault Republicans in New York for not taking this race seriously and putting forth a better candidate, where it would not have even been necessary for Cuomo to run as an independent to try and take down Mamdani. As I have stated in other reports, had they courted someone like EPA chief Lee Zeldin or Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) for this race, I don’t think it would have even been close. Instead, they are now asking the nominee from the GOP to drop out, and I just don’t think it is fair to do so.
