New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani is spreading hateful and antisemitic rhetoric and endangering the lives of New Yorkers, Israeli President Isaac Herzog advised Fox Information Digital in an unique interview at his Jerusalem residence.
“Mamdani doesn’t respect my nation’s proper for self-determination… the Jewish folks’s inherent proper to have a nation of their very own. And he’s principally spreading blasphemy, hate, antisemitic rhetoric. He ought to perceive that he’s risking his personal residents, he’s risking their security, well-being and life,” Herzog stated.
In an incident that drew international consideration, Mamdani posted a video on social media on July 21 through which he referred to as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a conflict felony” and “the architect of a horrific genocide towards the Palestinian folks.”
“This can’t be accepted in New York, which is a metropolis which is expensive to our coronary heart, expensive to the Israelis, and expensive to me personally,” Herzog stated.
“I believe New York will proceed method after Mamdani. And I hope he received’t create an irreversible injury,” he added.
On Iran, Herzog stated the regime has for many years posed a strategic risk to international stability, and never solely to Israel and the Center East.
“They take their folks’s meals and cash and spend it on terror all around the world. It’s a given truth,” he stated. “You ask your self why a nation of this nature needs to have a lot terror exercise all over the world, and that’s due to ideology… The ideology doesn’t accommodate some other faith or reasonable Islam, for that matter. That’s the reason it’s so harmful,” he added.
The USA and Israel launched a joint army marketing campaign towards the Islamic Republic on Feb. 28, dubbed Operation Epic Fury by the Trump administration and codenamed Operation Roaring Lion by Israel, earlier than Trump introduced a ceasefire on April 7.
Herzog stated Tehran’s missile program, actions across the Strait of Hormuz, nuclear ambitions, home repression and help for regional terror proxies as proof of the regime’s main risk to U.S. nationwide safety pursuits. He added that many People had been killed by the Islamic Republic.
As some main political voices within the U.S. have questioned the connection with the Jewish state, the president pressured the necessary ties which have made the connection so necessary.
“We each drink from this set of values which was commanded to all of us by these historic non secular books given to us by the Almighty,” he stated.
The Israeli president highlighted what he described as Trump’s deep help for the Jewish state, demonstrated by each phrases and actions.
He pointed to Trump’s 2018 choice, throughout his first time period, to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, in addition to his subsequent recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Herzog praised Trump’s “limitless” backing of Israeli positions “in so many points” and his “immense help and friendship with Israel,” including that the 2 international locations nonetheless most of the time see “eye to eye.”
Herzog credited Trump with serving to safe the return of 255 hostages held by Hamas following the Oct. 7, 2023, bloodbath. Whereas acknowledging the efforts of many officers concerned, he stated Trump “put his foot down” and “pushed and negotiated brilliantly” to convey them dwelling, including that he had “enormous respect” for the American chief.
That admiration amongst Israelis has not been diminished by any perceived political disagreements, Herzog stated, including that he believes the U.S.-Israel relationship transcends shifting attitudes and rising criticism of the Jewish state.
“I imagine that there’s something biblical and prophetic in the way in which our nations work collectively. And I actually imagine that Israel must be a bipartisan problem of friendship and help,” he added.
Herzog linked the reported decline in American help for Israel, notably amongst youthful folks, to campaigns of well-funded disinformation on social media.
“It’s very simple to smear Israel on TikTok, however that doesn’t say the true fact. And I invite each younger American to set foot on this nation,” he advised Fox Information Digital.
Herzog described Israel as a spot the place innovators flourish and nice concepts are shared with the world, contributing enormously throughout fields together with well being, power, science, agriculture and meals safety.
“There’s a motive why People who go to our nation, younger People, fall in love with this nation. And my intention on this interview is to … take off the horrible masks which was positioned on our face by horrible forces, a few of them, after all, forces which work on it on a regular basis to inform a distorted story.”
“We’re a nation in search of peace, we’re a nation in search of innovation, we’re a nation bringing concepts which is able to save humanity, and we’re [a] nation making an attempt to do good,” he continued. “And I hope and pray that we’ll have peace with our neighbors in your entire area, with our Palestinian neighbors as properly. However that requires that Israel will likely be accepted and folks will perceive that now we have safety wants.”
Herzog addressed the Home’s latest passage of a $1.15 trillion annual protection coverage invoice, which largely break up alongside social gathering strains, with the fiscal yr 2027 Nationwide Protection Authorization Act receiving solely six Democratic votes.
He described the event as a “crimson mild,” however stated it doesn’t sign the tip of relations between the American and Israeli public or of bipartisan dialogue and help.
“Precisely three years in the past, I spoke within the American Congress in entrance of a joint session of the Home, marking 75 years of Israel’s independence, and I had nearly 30 standing ovations,” he stated.
“I’m conscious … of the criticism, and conscious of an enormous marketing campaign on campuses, and of big cash which was funneled to assault Israel, and in addition conscious of our errors,” he added.
Herzog stated Israeli society is present process an evolution following Oct. 7, making it reputable to ask tough questions in regards to the nation’s future safety after such a “horrendous, aggressive, merciless” assault.
On the similar time, he stated People are proper to look at the bilateral relationship and Israel’s position in advancing U.S. nationwide safety pursuits.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Netanyahu traveled to Washington, D.C., to satisfy with Trump and attend the memorial service for the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
“Lindsey was ever energetic, all the time coming with new concepts, sensible, understood world affairs like nobody else, and understood Israel’s position in defending Western values and values of the free world,” Herzog advised Fox Information Digital.
He stated Graham additionally knew the right way to voice criticism, which is reputable between mates, and loved help throughout the Israeli political spectrum.
“[Graham] knew the right way to battle empires and nations of evil, and to face as much as them with out worry. I’ll all the time keep in mind him, Israel will all the time keep in mind him. The Jewish folks will all the time cherish his reminiscence,” Herzog added.
Herzog additionally raised the significance of how Israel values Christian communities within the Holy Land and is dedicated to strengthening interfaith dialogue. He added that these communities are a high precedence.
Based on Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, as of December 2025, Israel’s Christian inhabitants stood at roughly 184,200, representing 1.9% of the nation’s complete inhabitants. The group grew by 0.7% over the earlier yr.
“I personally met the Pope and spoke to him a number of instances and went to the Holy See. I converse to all of the heads of church buildings. I just lately had the Greek Orthodox Patriarch and this morning the Cardinal of Jerusalem,” Herzog stated.
He continued, “I imagine in actual dialogue with our brothers and sisters from the Evangelical world in the US and elsewhere. So, the Christian communities are a high precedence in Israel and we’re doing our greatest that they may flourish and develop.”
Herzog spoke of a zero tolerance of anti-Christian habits. “I do know of circumstances the place there was pressure and we’re coping with it aggressively and there’s a serious discount in moments of friction. Now now we have to work onerous all through the area. Christian communities will likely be sturdy and can flourish as a result of there’s a motion to shun out Christian communities, particularly in a number of the Muslim world, in Palestinian communities and elsewhere. And we’re coping with it as properly. And I’m right here for any Christian group that wants help of any sort. Folks understand it. And I converse to their leaders on a regular basis.”
Herzog weighed in on the controversy surrounding the dismissal of the Worldwide Legal Court docket’s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, who issued the arrest warrants towards Netanyahu, after member states voted to take away him over sexual misconduct allegations.
Herzog stated Khan “completely” pushed ahead with the arrest warrants to attempt to distract consideration from the sexual assault allegations towards him. He added that Khan had needed to return to Israel to satisfy with varied consultants and leaders, together with the Israeli president himself.
“Everyone obtained prepared to speak to him and current the true story and the true fact,” Herzog advised Fox Information Digital. “His workers had been on their method to the airport and unexpectedly he issued these orders and writs towards Prime Minister Netanyahu, [then] Protection Minister [Yoav] Gallant and others. And solely in hindsight now we all know clearly that it was with a view to divert consideration from the sexual allegations.
“The case must be dropped and the ICC ought to … not fall into the entice of hate and lies that Karim Khan introduced merely to cowl for himself,” stated Herzog.
Legal professionals for Karim Khan have stated they “will problem the lawfulness and equity of the choice by all accessible authorized mechanisms.”
Simply hours earlier than President Trump’s announcement that Hamas had agreed to a roadmap that features disarmament on Thursday, Herzog praised the “huge efforts” by the U.S. administration to advance the following part of the Gaza ceasefire.
“That is one thing that may be a serious breakthrough if it occurs. Let’s keep in mind, the 20-point plan of President Trump was accepted by the [United Nations] Safety Council, and the following part is disarming of Hamas,” Herzog advised Fox Information Digital.
“The folks of Gaza deserve a greater life. And there’s a actual viable plan, together with finances and efforts, the right way to change the course of the longer term,” he added.
However one factor must be made clear, he concluded: “Hamas can not management Gaza and can’t flip it right into a launching pad for terror and hate anymore.”
