Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has departed for Washington, DC, where he is due to meet US President Donald Trump.
According to the State of Israel’s Arabic-language account on X, the visit is taking place at Trump’s invitation, with the two leaders expected to discuss “issues of concern to both countries.”
The upcoming White House visit marks the seventh time Netanyahu has met with President Donald Trump since Trump returned to office in January 2025, more than any other world leader.
Netanyahu is also expected to attend the funeral services for the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham, a leading defense hawk and strong supporter of Israel, died suddenly two weeks ago of a likely torn aorta. The Israeli Prime Minister called him an “extraordinary American patriot.”
The visit comes as Netanyahu remains the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. The ICC issued warrants in November 2024 for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged crimes against humanity committed amid Israel’s war on Gaza. The Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry says that over 73,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive — roughly half of them women and children. About 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the initial Hamas attack on Israel.
On Sunday, Netanyahu dismissed the International Criminal Court’s war crimes charges against him as “bogus.” He pointed to sexual misconduct allegations against the ICC’s top prosecutor, who was removed from that post on Friday, and said that the warrant was an attempt to divert attention.
Also, Netanyahu slammed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani during an interview on a US News programme, continuing to push a series of baseless claims about the leftist politician who has said Netanyahu should be arrested if he comes to the US.
Netanyahu said that Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the Prime Minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly.
“He’s fomenting hate. He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers – Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone. But he’s trying to turn one group against the other. I speak to Jewish Americans, and they’re afraid right now.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
Netanyahu asserted that he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he is not welcome. “I intend to come and speak the truth – speak for Israel and for the Israeli-American alliance from the podium of the United Nations,” Netanyahu said.
Throughout his mayoral election campaign last year, Mamdani said that he would seek to order the city’s police to execute the ICC’s arrest warrant over Netanyahu’s role in the war in Gaza. However, Mamdani acknowledged last week that his city did not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu and called on federal authorities to do so. “I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” he said in a video message.
Trump, meanwhile, has assured Netanyahu that he won’t be arrested, saying in a social media post that the Israeli Prime Minister “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”
Netanyahu Deems Bipartisan U.S. Support For Israel At Risk
Moreover, Netanyahu said that he was concerned that once-bipartisan political support for Israel in the U.S. is at risk, particularly as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with the Mamdani wing of the party splinter.
He also warned against rising antisemitism in the U.S. and other Western countries, saying that when he talks to people in New York City, home to the second-largest Jewish population in the world, “Jews feel very uncomfortable.” “And I think it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong,” he said.
Mamdani’s outspoken criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights, views shared by a growing number of people in the US, has attracted the ire of pro-Israel figures who have sought to portray those criticisms as a form of anti-Semitism.
However, a recent poll found that Jewish adults in the US have a more favourable view of the New York Mayor than they do of Netanyahu himself, and that 30 percent believe Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
Despite formidable political allies in both major parties and influence in US domestic politics, supporters of Israel have struggled to effectively address the shift in public opinion that has led to increased calls for ending US support and weapons transfers. The US-Israel war on Iran, a longtime priority sought by Netanyahu, is also deeply unpopular with US voters.
READ ALSO: Palestinian President Urges International Action Over Israeli Settler Violence
