Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar brushed aside the inflammatory claims coming from New York City’s soon-to-take-office mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who has publicly vowed to have Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu arrested the moment he steps into the city. Sa’ar, speaking with the New York Post during a stop in Midtown on Monday, said the dramatic threats have zero impact on Netanyahu’s intentions.
“I don’t want to enter into a legal debate with the elected mayor of New York,” Sa’ar said. “But I will only say or repeat what the prime minister had said himself, he will come to New York.”
Mamdani has been one of the loudest critics of Israel on the American political scene, repeatedly accusing the Jewish state of committing war crimes during its war against Hamas. Citing the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant, he has insisted he would order Netanyahu’s detention should the prime minister visit New York City.
That declaration was quickly dismissed at the state level. New York Governor Kathy Hochul emphasized last week that Mamdani has absolutely no power to carry out such an act. “No, I do not, and the New York City mayor has not had the power to do that,” Hochul said, making clear that the threat was purely rhetorical.
Even with the heated language flying from City Hall-elect, Sa’ar signaled he was not entirely closing the door on future engagement. “I hope that we will have, in the future, maybe, a constructive dialogue, even though I can be skeptical about it,” he told the Post.
{Matzav.com}
At an affordability-focused appearance in Pennsylvania, the president launched into a blistering attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar, painting her as someone who constantly airs grievances and contributes little. He mocked her by name, telling the audience, “I love this Ilhan Omar, whatever the … her name is, with the little turban. I love her. She comes in, does nothing but [complain]. She’s always complaining. She comes from her country, where I mean, it’s considered about the worst country in the world, right?”
The crowd roared as he amped up the rhetoric, prompting them with “We oughta get her the …. out,” which quickly morphed into loud chants of “Send her back!”
He didn’t stop there. The president once again resurfaced an allegation he has long lobbed at the Minnesota lawmaker—that she married her brother for the purpose of committing immigration fraud—reintroducing one of his most controversial claims.
Trump also pointed back to a message he posted last month on Truth Social, when he had demanded Rep. Omar leave the country. In that post, he shared a video of her speaking in Minnesota, remarking that “Somalia is our home” and referring to the Somali president as “our President,” and added, “She should go back!”
The suggestion that Omar does not belong in the United States is a theme he has revisited often. In the fall, he recounted a conversation at the White House, telling reporters, “You know I met the head of Somalia, did you know that? And I suggested that maybe he’d like to take her back. He said ‘I don’t want her.’”
His antagonism toward Omar traces back years. Throughout his first term—especially in the closing months of the 2020 race—he repeatedly showcased her as a foil, accusing her of “telling us how to run our country.”
{Matzav.com}
A US-based Palestinian critic of Hamas is alleging that the terror group secretly stockpiled massive quantities of baby formula and children’s nutritional drinks in Gaza while publicly insisting that Israel had plunged the Strip into famine, the NY Post reports. According to activist Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, the organization intentionally kept essential supplies out of public reach to intensify hunger and advance its political messaging.
Alkhatib, who has been outspoken in his opposition to Hamas, says the hidden stockpiles were meant to deepen desperation among civilians and harden global sentiment against Israel. He shared video clips online that he says were taken inside one of these concealed storage sites—rooms filled wall-to-wall with boxes of infant formula and supplemental shakes.
“During the worst of the days of the hunger crisis in Gaza in the past six months, Hamas deliberately hid literal tons of infant formula and nutritional shakes for children by storing them in clandestine warehouses belonging to the Gaza Ministry of Health,” he wrote on X.
He argued that the group’s intention was clear. “The goal, as I said then, was to worsen the hunger crisis and initiate a disaster as part of the terror group’s famine narrative in a desperate effort to stop Israel’s onslaught against Gaza and force the return of the UN’s aid distribution mechanism, and away from the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF),” he added.
The accusations come months after warnings of potential famine surged following the collapse of a temporary cease-fire in March. With Israel blocking aid shipments after the truce fell apart, scenes of gaunt children and empty markets circulated widely, ultimately prompting the United States to spearhead the creation of the GHF to deliver food into Gaza.
But the GHF initiative was plagued by turmoil from the outset, including frequent gunfire and fatal incidents around distribution zones. Hamas reportedly cautioned residents not to approach these centers, which only intensified confusion and danger on the ground.
Against that backdrop, Alkhatib repeatedly accused Hamas of manipulating the crisis and treating its own people as expendable in its struggle against Israel. A longtime advocate of coexistence and a diplomatic resolution, he emphasized that condemning Hamas and calling for increased aid to Gaza are not contradictory positions.
“You can have compassion for the real suffering of the Palestinian civilians of Gaza, and demand Israeli action to facilitate aid entry into the coastal enclave, while still holding Hamas accountable for its part in causing a hunger and starvation crisis in the first place,” he said.
Israel, for its part, has consistently rejected claims that its military campaign contributed to a famine, instead asserting that Hamas operatives were the ones seizing food and creating shortages. Yet independent assessments have provided little confirmation that Hamas was responsible for the wave of looting that struck incoming convoys. A review by the UN Office for Project Services over the chaotic summer concluded that armed gangs—not Hamas—were primarily behind the hijackings of aid trucks.
{Matzav.com}
