David Kaufman: Mamdani’s anti-Netanyahu provocations could plunge New York into chaos

A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag outside of United Nations headquarters, during a protest in New York on Oct. 9, 2023. Photo by Adam GRAY/AFP

Article content

NEW YORK CITY — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu is speaking at the United Nations in New York this week. But he’s unlikely to cross paths with the city’s Israel-obsessed Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has called for the premier’s arrest on numerous occasions.

Article content

Last year, while campaigning to lead New York, Mamdani promised to arrest Netanyahu if he steps foot in the city under his watch. This year — in a fiery video branding Netanyahu a “war criminal” and the “architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people” — the mayor frustratingly admitted he’s powerless to place Bibi in handcuffs.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Perhaps the White House had something to do with Mamdani’s reluctant about-face. In July, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that Netanyahu would not be arrested in the United States, “in any way, shape or form.” The very next day, Mamadani conceded defeat.

Article content

Article content

But Mamdani is far from finished. True, the mayor may be unable to jail Netanyahu. Nor, as he announced last week, will he personally demonstrate against Bibi. But like Glenn Close’s infamous character Alex Forrest in “Fatal Attraction,” Mamdani will not be ignored during Netanyahu’s time in New York. Mamdani has repeatedly reminded New Yorkers that they “have the right” to protest while Bibi is in town.

Article content

For months, local Jewish groups have bemoaned such provocations, casting blame on Mamdani for contributing to New York’s historic spike in antisemitism. “Sowing chaos” is how Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon described Mamdani’s protest pleas.

Article content

Netanyahu released a video on Monday blasting Mamdani “for inciting riots against New York Jews,” before adding, “I’m coming to the UN. I’m going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’m going to tell the truth about you.”

Article content

Article content

But Mamdani’s moves are actually far more calculating than they may appear, and his threats could have implications that go far beyond the city’s Jewish community. Mamdani is not simply laying out a case for legitimizing protests against Netanyahu in New York, he’s openly encouraging them — with consequences that could easily extend to Washington, D.C., and beyond.

Article content

Article content

Back in the summer of 2020, New York City was an epicentre for the mass protests stoked by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in late May. Then, as now, Trump inhabited the Oval Office, from which he threatened to unleash the army upon America’s cities if the chaos failed to subside.

Article content

By early June of that year, some 5,000 National Guard troops were deployed by Trump in Washington, D.C., whose governance falls under White House control. And thousands more troops were dispatched by like-minded governors across the nation. It was the largest National Guard activation since the civil rights movement.

Article content

The arrival of the National Guard achieved its goal and within weeks the number of BLM-related protests plunged from nearly 3,500 to 500 nationwide, according to a report by the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project. But with some 95 per cent of the nation’s protests characterized as non-violent by ACLED, critics suggest the troops were ultimately unnecessary.