Mamdani’s Netanyahu Stunt Was a Waste of His Talent and Our Time

By Thomas L. Friedman

I don’t know what kind of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani will turn out to be, but he’s already proved to be a real disappointment as a statesman. New York is the only city in the world in which at least 750,000 Jews and Muslims apiece live side by side. Rather than being a constructive bridge builder between them, Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, has chosen to be a bridge destroyer — using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as his ax. It is such a waste of a truly charismatic political talent.

Consider Mamdani’s recent stunt: threatening to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel when he comes to New York City for the United Nations gathering in September. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024, alleging he committed crimes against humanity in Gaza. Though Mamdani eventually acknowledged that the city had no such legal authority — and instead called on the federal........

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