Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee in the New York City mayoral race, said on Wednesday said that it was “too early” to give President Donald Trump credit for negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, saying he would be willing to do so if the ceasefire is “lasting” and “durable.”
“When it comes to the ceasefire, I am thankful, and I have hope that it will actually endure and that it will be lasting,” Mamdani told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum.
Asked by MacCallum about whether he credits Trump, whose administration negotiated the first phase of a peace plan with Israel and Hamas, Mamdani said, “I think it’s too early to do so.”
“If it proves to be something that is lasting, something that is durable, than I think that that is where you give credit,” he added.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Mamdani, who in June won the Democratic primary for mayor after beating almost a dozen other Democratic candidates — including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — has received scrutiny for his views on Israel and the Middle East.
He has long been a supporter of recognizing the state of Palestine, labeled the war in Gaza a “genocide” and received criticism from his opponents and Jewish groups earlier when he initially declined to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” in a podcast interview.
In June, Mamdani told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that it was “not language that I use,” and that, “I don’t believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech.”
Weeks later, the New York Times reported that Mamdani told business leaders that he would “discourage” others from using the phrase.
In Wednesday’s Fox News interview, Mamdani said that he was still skeptical that the peace deal negotiated by Trump would last, citing reports that Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday.
“I continue to have concerns because I’ve seen reports still, just in the last few days, that five Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military. And that’s what gives me pause about issuing any kind of praise or celebration at a moment when it is still in its infancy,” Mamdani told MacCallum.
He also responded to the news that Hamas, which as part of the peace deal agreed to return living and deceased hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, returned a body that did not belong to one of the hostages.
“I think those are bodies or remains that should absolutely be returned. And I think that I have no issue critiquing Hamas or the Israeli government because my critiques all come from a place of universal human rights,” Mamdani said.
Several of the families of deceased hostages earlier this week called for an “immediate suspension” of the ceasefire agreement when just four of 28 deceased hostages were initially returned to Israel.
Trump traveled to Israel earlier this week to oversee the implementation of the first phase of the peace deal and speak before the Israeli Knesset.
Mamdani on Wednesday also reiterated his long-stated position about whether he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under an arrest warrant that has been imposed by the International Criminal Court.
“This is a city that believes in international law,” he said, adding, “I believe that we should uphold arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court.”
Mamdani added that he wouldn’t create new legislation to uphold an international arrest warrant and would only “exhaust every legal option in front of me” to arrest someone under a warrant if they visited New York City.
