U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee blasted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani following the antisemitic stabbing attack on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, declaring that it is Mamdani—not Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu—who should face arrest for what he described as incitement that fuels violence against Jews.

Speaking with Newsmax, Huckabee accused the mayor of encouraging dangerous rhetoric through his repeated calls to arrest Netanyahu, arguing that such statements are “exactly inciting people” in the aftermath of the double stabbing that police are investigating as a hate crime.

Earlier in the week, Mamdani reiterated his promise to honor the International Criminal Court’s November 2024 arrest warrant against Netanyahu over the Gaza war. At the same time, he acknowledged that New York City has no “independent legal authority” to carry out such an arrest and urged the federal government to take action instead.

President Donald Trump has made clear that Netanyahu will not be arrested while visiting the United States.

Just two days after Mamdani admitted he lacked the authority to arrest the Israeli prime minister, authorities say 51-year-old Raul Morales stabbed two men on Manhattan’s Upper West Side—one Jewish and one Asian—while allegedly shouting “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks.

On Friday, Morales was formally charged with hate crimes and attempted murder.

Appearing on Saturday Report, Huckabee argued that there was a direct connection between the mayor’s inflammatory rhetoric and the violence that followed.

“It’s incredibly reckless for the mayor of New York, first of all, to pretend that he can do anything about arresting an elected prime minister from a foreign country who, first of all, has diplomatic immunity when he comes,” Huckabee said.

He also defended Netanyahu, saying the Israeli leader has “not committed the war crime” and stressing that Mamdani has no legal authority to detain a foreign head of government.

“This guy didn’t have the power to go after someone who didn’t pay his subway fare to say he’s going to go after international elected officials.”

Huckabee reserved his harshest criticism for what he characterized as the mayor’s inflammatory language.

“If anybody gets arrested it ought to be the mayor for incitement. That’s a serious issue, and he is frankly just whipping up the attitude, and it’s a disgusting thing to watch.”

Critics also faulted Mamdani for delaying his public response to Thursday’s attack. Hours after the stabbing, the mayor first posted about a housing tax proposal while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other officials had already condemned the assault.

When Mamdani eventually issued a statement, he described the attacks as “hateful and despicable” but did not refer to them as antisemitic, an omission that drew sharp criticism.

By Friday morning, UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric Goldstein echoed concerns similar to those raised later by Huckabee, urging the mayor to change course.

“Mayor Mamdani, stop fanning the flames of hatred and division.

“The consequences are not abstract. They are playing out on our streets,” Goldstein said.

Asked again about Mamdani’s repeated threats to arrest a sitting foreign leader, Huckabee dismissed the idea outright.

“He doesn’t have the power,” the ambassador said, calling the mayor’s arrest threats “nonsense” and emphasizing that Netanyahu is protected by diplomatic immunity.

Netanyahu is expected to travel to New York in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Whether Mamdani moderates his rhetoric before that visit—and how the federal government responds to the ICC warrant, which Trump has already sanctioned the court over—is expected to remain a major point of attention in the weeks leading up to the trip.

{Matzav.com}