How Mamdani’s parents forged a Mayor who loathes Jews and Israel

What the report says

Israel National News published an opinion column on July 22, 2026, by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach criticizing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his stance toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel. The column says Mamdani called Netanyahu a “war criminal” in recent remarks, including a New York Times interview, cited an International Criminal Court warrant, and said he was consulting lawyers about whether New York could act if Netanyahu came to the city for the UN General Assembly. It also says Mamdani later acknowledged he had no legal mechanism to arrest Netanyahu but said the Israeli leader was not welcome in New York.

Boteach frames those comments as political theater rather than municipal leadership, arguing that Mamdani should be focused on local issues such as crime, housing costs and public services. The piece is explicitly labeled opinion and uses highly charged characterizations of Mamdani’s views on Israel, Jews and the United States; those are the author’s assertions, not findings reported as independently established facts.

Much of the column attempts to trace Mamdani’s politics to his parents: Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. Boteach criticizes Mahmood Mamdani’s academic writing on postcolonialism, Idi Amin, Israel and nationalism, and portrays Nair’s films about immigration, Muslims after 9/11 and American power as part of a skeptical cultural worldview.

For context, the ICC has pursued action against Israeli leaders over the Gaza war, which Israel and the United States have rejected. The article’s significance lies less in new reporting than in reflecting a sharp pro-Israel critique of Mamdani’s foreign-policy symbolism as mayor of a city with a large Jewish population.