New Yorkers elected a mayor—not a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court.
Yet here we are.
Zohran Mamdani became the first New York City mayor in decades to skip the annual Celebrate Israel Parade, a tradition that has long represented an important gathering for New York’s Jewish community. He said his decision reflected his opposition to the policies of Israel’s current government.
Now he’s publicly discussing whether Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested if the Israeli prime minister comes to New York for the United Nations, even though the legal authority for a city mayor to make that happen is, at best, highly disputed.
Whether you support Netanyahu or oppose him isn’t the issue.
The issue is priorities.
New Yorkers are dealing with rising costs, public safety concerns, homelessness, aging infrastructure, and a host of problems that fall squarely within the mayor’s job description. Instead, City Hall is generating headlines about international diplomacy and hypothetical arrests that may not even be within its legal authority.
A mayor’s first responsibility is to the people who elected him.
New York City isn’t the International Criminal Court. It isn’t the U.S. State Department. And the mayor’s office isn’t a platform for conducting global foreign policy.
Skipping a major annual event for a large segment of New York’s Jewish community while simultaneously making headlines over the possibility of arresting Israel’s prime minister is a contrast that many New Yorkers won’t overlook.
Leadership is revealed by what receives attention.
If this is where the mayor’s attention is focused, New Yorkers have every right to ask a simple question:
Who’s running New York City while the mayor is trying to run the world?