Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of 'fomenting hate' and calls ICC war-crimes charges 'bogus'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly.

Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor's suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani said last week that while New York City does not have legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world's top war-crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so.

“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” with Maria Bartiromo. “But he’s trying to turn one group against the other.”

The prime minister has become an increasingly polarizing figure over Israel's war in Gaza, which was ignited by the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants. Israel also joined the U.S. in starting the war against Iran on Feb. 28 before launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon in response to fire from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed the International Criminal Court's war crimes charges against him as “bogus.” He pointed to sexual misconduct allegations against the ICC's top prosecutor, who was removed from that post on Friday, and said the warrant was an attempt to divert attention.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Netanyahu said he was concerned that once-bipartisan political support for Israel in the U.S. is at risk, particularly as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with the Mamdani wing of the party splinter.

He also warned against rising antisemitism in the U.S. and other Western countries, saying that when he talks to people in New York City, home to the second-largest Jewish population in the world, "Jews feel very uncomfortable.”

“And I think it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong,” he said.

Throughout his mayoral election campaign last year, Mamdani said he would seek to order the city’s police to execute the ICC’s arrest warrant over Netanyahu's role in the war in Gaza.

But Mamdani acknowledged last week that his city did not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu and called on federal authorities to step in.

“I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” he said in a video message.

He told New Yorkers that he understood their frustration and that expressions of protest is something the city would “always respect.”

The Hague-based court has accused Netanyahu, his former defense minister and the late leader of Hamas of crimes against humanity. The Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry says over 73,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive — roughly half of them women and children. Some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the initial Hamas attack on Israel.

Trump told Netanyahu in a social media post Monday that he “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

Netanyahu is expected in Washington this week to meet with Trump and attend funeral services for the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Graham, a leading defense hawk and strong supporter of Israel, died suddenly two weeks ago of a likely torn aorta. The prime minster called him an “extraordinary American patriot.”

Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves the courtroom after his hearing on corruption charges at the district court in east Jerusalem, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the state memorial for Ze'ev Jabotinsky, at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

At least 40 million people were under extreme heat warnings across central and southern parts of the United States on Sunday as high temperatures and severe humidity gripped large swaths of the country for a second straight day.

Heat indexes exceeding 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 Celsius) stretched from Minnesota down to Mississippi, extending west into southern California and Nevada. Parts of the southwest could see highs of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 C) on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Meteorologists said the sweltering weather was the result of another heat dome — a phenomenon in which atmospheric conditions trap heat, accentuating and prolonging already high temperatures

On Saturday, Rapid City, South Dakota, reported an all-time high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 C). A horse race planned in Canterbury Park, in Shakopee, Minnesota, was canceled Sunday because of the heat.

“Right now, it’s affecting a lot of people right in the middle of the country,” said Bob Oravec, an NWS meteorologist. “The core of the heat sinks southward by early next week.”

The moist air was also producing other volatility around the top of the heat dome, including the risk of severe thunderstorms, flash flooding and hail around the Great Lakes on Sunday. The potential for heavy storms was expected to move east in the coming days.

“If you have a heat dome in one part of the country, you’ll have a different corresponding weather in another part,” Oravec said. “It’s all related.”

Temporary relief will come to the central U.S. toward the middle of the week, but high temperatures could return by the weekend, he noted.

Authorities warned that children and older adults, along with people with certain medical conditions, are especially at risk of serious reactions including heat stroke. Experts recommend seeking out air conditioning or a cooling center, make sure to drink enough water and limit time under the direct sun.

The continental U.S. endured the second-hottest first half of the year on record in 2026, according tracking of average temperatures by the National Centers for Environmental Information.

The sun beams down on a lifeguard while she watches over a beach at Lake Harriet during an extreme heat warning, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)