Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “stoking hatred” after the mayor called Netanyahu a war criminal and argued he should be arrested if he travels to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Netanyahu said he plans to travel to New York in September to deliver a speech at the U.N.’s annual gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he is unwelcome.

Mamdani said last week that while New York City does not have the legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world’s top war crimes court, he encourages the federal government to enforce it. “He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers — Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone,” Netanyahu said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “But he’s trying to set one group against the other.”

Netanyahu has become an increasingly polarizing figure because of Israel’s war in Gaza, which was triggered by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. Israel also went to war against Iran with the United States on Feb. 28, and then launched a ground invasion in southern Lebanon in response to fire from the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed the war crimes charges against him at the International Criminal Court as “baseless.” He pointed to the removal of the court’s chief prosecutor on Friday over allegations of sexual misconduct and said the arrest warrant was an effort to divert attention. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Netanyahu said he is concerned that U.S. bipartisan political support for Israel is at risk, especially when progressive and far-left Democrats align with Mamdani’s wing of the party and create divisions. He also warned that antisemitism is rising in the U.S. and other Western countries, and said when he speaks to people in New York City — “Jews are feeling very unsettled.” “I think it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong,” he said.

During Mamdani’s mayoral campaign last year, he said he would seek to order the city’s police to enforce the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu for his role in the Gaza war. But Mamdani acknowledged last week that his city does not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu and called on federal authorities to step in. “Let me also be clear: Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, and neither is any other war criminal on the run,” he said in a video. He told New Yorkers he understands their frustration, and expressing protest is something the city will “always respect.”

The Hague‑based court has charged Netanyahu, his former defense minister, and the late Hamas leader with crimes against humanity. The Palestinian territory’s health ministry says Israel’s offensive has killed more than 73,000 people — roughly half of them women and children. In Hamas’s initial attack on Israel, about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Trump posted on social media Monday telling Netanyahu that he “will not be arrested in any way, shape or form while he is in the United States.” Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington this week to meet with Trump and attend the funeral of the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a major defense hawk and staunch supporter of Israel who died suddenly two weeks ago from a suspected aortic tear.