Netanyahu’s US visit sparks clash with Mamdani as Kuzma weighs in

A U.S.-Israeli trip is taking on wider cultural meaning as a popular NBA player pushed back on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tirade on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. to attend a funeral Tuesday for Lindsey Graham and have a sit-down with President Donald Trump over the Iran war and other bilateral issues.

But in a social media post, NBA star Kyle Kuzma blasted the self-described Democrat socialist mayor as “playing president” after Mamdani released a viral video declaring Netanyahu “a war criminal.”

“This is 2026,” wrote the Milwaukee Bucks forward. “People cosplaying as things they don’t have the authority, the talent, or the track record to actually be.”

He added the post by Mamdani was “just for content.”

In his video, Mamdani accused Netanyahu of deliberately killing babies, preventing food aid so civilians would starve and using the Israeli army to target human rights workers and journalists.

“He is responsible for killing 73,000 people,” the NYC mayor said about Netanyahu. “And for the maiming of tens of thousands of children, as those who survive undergo amputation without anesthesia.”

However, U.N. reports repeatedly found Hamas – the previous governing authority for Gaza, with which Israel is at war – as the main hindrance to the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon argued Mamdani was chasing social media attention instead of focusing on the city’s mounting problems.

“Mamdani is spreading hate,” he said in a statement on social media. “It’s time he focused on the issues he’s actually responsible for, like cleaning up the garbage piling up on New York City’s streets and keeping New Yorkers safe.”

The exchange quickly became another flashpoint in the broader political battle over Israel, antisemitism and the role of progressive Democrats in shaping America’s foreign policy.

Mamdani had previously suggested Netanyahu should be arrested if he visited New York under the International Criminal Court’s warrant, reported the New York Times (NYT).

But he later acknowledged New York City has no legal authority to arrest a foreign head of government, instead arguing the federal government should recognize and enforce the ICC warrant.

“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,” the mayor told the NYT. “The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the I.C.C. and execute this warrant.”

Trump dismissed that idea.

“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The controversy comes just as Netanyahu prepares for what could be one of the most important White House meetings of Trump’s second term.

The two leaders will discuss possibly expanding military action against Iran, an agreement for peace in Lebanon and efforts to expand the Abraham Accords, a White House official said, according to NBC News.

Previously, Heartlander News reported Israel is expected to make a push for expanded hostilities against Iran.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss Gaza, regional security arrangements, Hezbollah’s presence in Lebanon and the future of the Abraham Accords, as the administration seeks to capitalize on recent military successes while expanding diplomatic normalization in the region.

Netanyahu also announced he will attend the funeral of former Sen. Lindsey Graham by invitation of President Trump.

For Americans, the contrast between Netanyahu and Mamdani could hardly be sharper, Trump said.

“He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others,” Trump noted about Netanyahu on Truth Social.

On the other hand, he’s argued Mamdani, the country’s most prominent Democrat Socialist, is a communist.

“And as you saw with the communists elected in New York City recently – they’re communists, they’re not Social Democrats – they want to completely destroy the traditional American way of life,” said Trump in June.

Fellow Republican leaders have increasingly argued the Democrat party’s activist wing is more interested in scoring ideological points than governing.

“THE BARBARIANS ARE INSIDE THE GATE!” wrote Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana. He added the Democrats are going “down this long, dark road of death to communism.”

Opponents of NBA star Kuzma attacked him, accusing his posts of being authored by artificial intelligence and of being a “Zionist” because he recently attended a Jewish wedding.

“I am a Zionist because I’m pointing out things that are happening in front of everyone’s face,” Kuzma added, “but hey, that’s okay. Let’s keep opening up soccer fields.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also attend Graham’s funeral and meet with Trump on Tuesday.