Benjamin Netanyahu says he’ll travel to NYC ‘soon’ — despite Zohran Mamdani’s vows to arrest him

Bibi is on his way to the Big Apple.

Weeks after Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov trolled Zohran Mamdani by inviting Benjamin Netanhayu to NYC on Jan. 1 – the mayor-elect’s inauguration day – the Israeli prime minister assured her that he’d be visiting “soon.”

Mamdani, an avowed socialist, famously promised on the campaign trial to put Netanyahu in handcuffs if he dares set foot in New York City.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to visit NYC. via REUTERS

Vernikov, a feisty conservative, defiantly invited the PM, in order to “reaffirm the deep and enduring bond” between the Big Apple and the Jewish state.

Bibi replied, pledging to take her up on her “kind invitation,” but not on Jan 1, he said.

“Even though I won’t be able to make it on that day, I assure you that I will visit New York soon. And I’d very much like to see you at that time,” he wrote on his official stationery. 

Vernikov told The Post she can’t wait to see Mamdani lose his mind when the PM lands in New York City.

The Ukrainian-born lawyer and Jewish advocate said “the mayor of New York City has no legal authority to arrest the sitting Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Mamdani either knew that and blatantly lied for clickbait and votes or he’s too incompetent to run a simple Google search.

“Mamdani is a scam, and soon the spoiled kids who voted for him will see him for the fraud he is.”

Mayor-elect Mamdani pledged to arrest Netanyahu if he came to the Big Apple. Paul Martinka

In the wake of a spate of antisemitic hate crimes that rocked the city in recent days, Vernikov is keeping an eye on the incoming mayor’s next moves.

“I look forward to seeing Benjamin Netanyahu in New York City and the Jewish community will be delighted to welcome him amidst skyrocketing antisemitism here at home and across the world,” she assured.

Mamdani, a Muslim immigrant, vowed during his campaign to use the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu if he sets foot in the city again, citing the International Criminal Court’s 2024 arrest warrant for the leader’s alleged war crimes in Gaza — which the US doesn’t recognize.

In late 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants to Netanhayu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, alleging that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the two men “bear responsibility for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population.”

Last month, Netanyahu said in an interview with Australian newscaster Erin Molan that he’s “not afraid” of traveling to New York.

Pro-Israel congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who just dropped her bid for governor, led a bill in September to prohibit the “antisemite communist’s” plan to arrest Netanyahu.

“Kathy Hochul has refused to condemn Mamdani’s antisemitic and illegal pledge to arrest Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu,” Stefanik said in a statement to The Post. “Kathy Hochul has bent the knee to the anti-American antisemites who she has allowed to take over the NY Democrat Party under her watch.”