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After clashing over Bibi arrest, Mamdani meets with U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz

The summit between the NYC mayor and Waltz comes ahead of the U.N. General Assembly next month

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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani briefly speaks with reporters as he leaves the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 16, 2025 in Washington, DC.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Thursday morning — weeks after Waltz denounced the mayor’s suggestion that he might arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and weeks before the leader of the Jewish state is set to arrive in the Big Apple for the U.N. General Assembly.

City Hall released an updated schedule for the mayor just minutes before the 10 a.m. meeting was set to begin, and did not disclose the location. No readout or statement from either official regarding the gathering had been released as of Thursday afternoon.

In July, Waltz took to X to castigate Mamdani for continuing to toy with a campaign promise to execute an International Criminal Court warrant against Netanyahu should he visit New York for the diplomatic summit. Waltz noted what, according to subsequent New York Times reporting, the mayor already knew from the city’s lawyers and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch: he lacked authority to act on the pledge.

“Mayor Mamdani: here’s why your threat to arrest PM Netanyahu’s in NYC during UNGA is not going to happen,” the former Florida congressman wrote, before noting the U.S. is not a party to the ICC, that Netanyahu enjoys various legal protections as a head of state and participant in U.N. proceedings and that federal decision-making power preempts that of the city. “This is pure political theater.”

Mamdani subsequently admitted Waltz’s points in a fiery social media video that drew denunciations from leading Jewish groups and leaders.

Netanyahu has announced he intends to gathering the session in New York, which begins Sept. 8. High-level week, featuring heads of state, will run from Sept. 22-28.

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