NYC Mayor Adams, during trip to Israel, urges Netanyahu to attend Mamdani inauguration despite arrest threat

Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News on Nov 17, 2025

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NEW YORK — With less than two months to go in his term, Mayor Eric Adams met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, drawing a contrast with his successor, Zohran Mamdani, who has vowed to direct the NYPD to arrest the PM if he sets foot in New York under his administration.

In an interview with the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper before his sitdown with Netanyahu, Adams even encouraged the Israeli leader to come to New York for Mamdani’s Jan. 1 inauguration.

“I believe the prime minister should visit the city. I think he should start with the inauguration ceremony of Mamdani in the presence of the City Council on January 1 to send a strong message to the largest Jewish community outside Israel,” Adams is quoted as saying.

“He needs to make clear to the entire community that he will continue visiting the city as often as possible, and he should begin on January 1.”

Netanyahu did not immediately say whether he’d entertain the proposal by the outgoing mayor.

In a post on X, Netanyahu said he appreciated the opportunity to meet with Adams in Tel Aviv.

“I thanked him for his steadfast support for Israel and for standing proudly with the Jewish people at a time when it truly matters,” Netanyahu wrote in the post.

Adams spokeswoman Liz Garcia did not provide a full readout of the meeting but pointed to a post the mayor made on X saying he and Netanyahu “discussed the fight against antisemitism and the unbreakable bond between New York City and Israel.”

Adams is set to return to New York from Israel on Tuesday after spending four days in the country.

His trip, which comes as he’s working on lining up a post-City Hall, is being paid by New York City taxpayers. City officials who are with him on the taxpayer-funded jaunt include Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy and deputy chief of staff Menashe Shapiro.

It’s Adams’ second visit to Israel in the past couple of years.

The trip — as well as his comments to Israel Hayom — appeared as a clear rebuke to Mamdani, who’s set to be sworn in Jan. 1 as the city’s first Muslim mayor.

A democratic socialist, Mamdani has been deeply critical of Israel’s war in Gaza, which was launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack and has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Critics of Mamdani, including Adams, have accused him of stoking antisemitism through certain of his policies and practices, a charge he denies.

The International Criminal Court — whose jurisdiction isn’t recognized by the U.S. government — has issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest on war crime charges alleging his government deliberately sought to starve Palestinians by cutting off food supplies to Gaza.

Mamdani has said he would as mayor direct the NYPD to honor the warrant and have Netanyahu arrested if he goes to New York under his mayoralty.

At a press conference in the Bronx on Monday afternoon, Mamdani said Adams’ comments about inviting Netayahu to New York were “perplexing.”

“I find Mayor Adams’ focus in these final weeks and months of his administration to be perplexing to say the least,” he said. “This is a time when New Yorkers are on the brink of being priced out of the city that they call home and his actions have little to do with that affordability crisis and what they show, in fact, is why New Yorkers are so desperate for a new administration.”

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