Zohran Mamdani, a lifelong foe of the existent of the Jewish state of Israel, knows he can’t do anything of the sort by ordering the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu should he come to New York. So why does Mamdani keep talking about the impossible? The mayor even used city resources to make a 2-minute video decrying Netanyahu and admitting his arrest fantasy is just that.

The reason is that Mamdani is obsessed with Israel and has been so his whole political career. To him, this is good politics, anything to hammer Israel, even though he is mayor, not secretary of state.

He should stick to being mayor.

Mr. Mayor, as you said: “My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here. It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.”

Well, then waive attorney-client privilege (you’re the client) and order city lawyers to publish the legal advice memo they gave you. We are that sure your own government attorneys correctly concluded that the United States is not a party to the ICC, that Netanyahu (like all foreign leaders) is shielded by federal law while in the U.S, and should Netanyahu be here to visit the UN, he is protected by the agreement governing the world body’s relationship with its host city.

Let everyone, including the anti-Israel fanatics that support you, see the truth. There’s also the fact that Mamdani is wrong about the feds taking action because the U.S. can’t join the ICC unless two-thirds of the U.S. Senate agrees to the treaty (which is beyond a long shot of happening).

We would add that the ICC indictment itself is a badly flawed instrument, issued for political, not legal, reasons.

As for Mamdani, while claiming some high-minded fealty to the law, his video, complete with somber mood music soundtrack as he sits in City Hall, opens with him saying: “Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.” Mamdani clearly didn’t clear that outrageous rhetoric with any lawyer.

He should have said “accused.” Furthermore, the ICC warrant, as overly board as it is, does make not suggest any accusation of “genocide.” But Mamdani slyly puts it all together, that Israel and its leader are already guilty of war crimes and genocide. No need for anything more.

We aren’t huge fans of Netanyahu and neither is the Israeli public as he faces an Oct. 27 national election in addition to a corruption scandal which could land him in an Israeli prison. But Mamdani just gave Netanyahu a valuable campaign contribution, as all of Netanyahu’s domestic political rivals have had to rally to his side following Mamdani’s broadside video.

Maybe Mamdani actually wants the rightist Netanyahu to win another term as prime minister, instead of some Israeli leader more towards the center, which doesn’t fit Mamdani’s cartoonish view of Israel.

Mamdani’s incessant criticism of Israel has nothing to do with Netanyahu’s government; Mamdani is opposed to any Israeli government, even a dovish one filled with left wingers. Mamdani is opposed to Israel as a Jewish state, which is like being opposed to Ireland as an Irish state or Poland as a Polish state. To Mamdani, all of Israel, including Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport, is occupied territory.

With that warped mindset, of course he is fixated on wanting to arrest Netanyahu.

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