It has been a busy week for Zohran Mamdani, especially when it comes to a legal jurisdiction he seems unusually interested in. The problem is that the jurisdiction in question is not New York City. It is Israel.
Mamdani once again talked about arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, echoing a promise he made during the campaign. Then reality intervened, and he acknowledged that he would not actually have the authority to do it.
That did not stop him from calling Netanyahu a “war criminal,” even though Netanyahu has not been tried or convicted by an international court.
The episode also brought several of Mamdani’s older comments back into circulation. In one clip, he argued that Israel is “not a place” and “not a country” for some people.
That position made his later Tisha B’Av message feel especially strange.
On social media, Mamdani wished Jewish New Yorkers a “peaceful Tisha B’Av.”
“From sundown tonight until tomorrow, mourners will pause and reflect on the history and resiliency of the Jewish people,” he wrote on X.
“May all observing have a safe and meaningful fast.”
Under ordinary circumstances, that would be a harmless and respectful message from a mayor to Jewish residents. But Mamdani’s own views about Israel made it difficult to separate