WASHINGTON -- Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is inciting animosity by branding him a war criminal and urging his detention over the Gaza conflict if he arrives in the city for the United Nations General Assembly.

Netanyahu plans to travel to New York in September for the yearly UN assembly of global leaders, even though the mayor has indicated he is unwelcome. Mamdani noted last week that while the city lacks power to carry out an arrest order from the international war crimes tribunal, he urged federal officials to act instead.

"He is meant to represent every New Yorker, including Jews, Christians, Muslims and all others," Netanyahu said on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo. "Yet he is working to pit one community against another."

The prime minister has grown more divisive amid Israel's Gaza operations, which began after the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel by Hamas fighters. Israel also partnered with the U.S. to launch strikes against Iran on Feb. 28 before sending troops into southern Lebanon to counter attacks from the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

Netanyahu on Sunday called the International Criminal Court's war crimes accusations against him "bogus." He referenced misconduct claims against the ICC's lead prosecutor, who was removed from the role on Friday, and described the warrant as a distraction tactic.

The mayor's office offered no immediate reply to a comment request on Sunday.

Netanyahu expressed worry that longstanding bipartisan U.S. backing for Israel faces threats, especially as progressive and far-left Democrats tied to the Mamdani faction of the party break away.

He also cautioned about growing antisemitism across the U.S. and other Western nations, noting that conversations with residents in New York City, which hosts the world's second-largest Jewish community, show that "Jews feel very uncomfortable."

"And I think it is wrong. The entire situation is wrong," he said.

During his mayoral campaign last year, Mamdani pledged to direct city police to enforce the ICC arrest warrant tied to Netanyahu's actions in the Gaza war.

Yet Mamdani admitted last week that the city holds no legal power to detain Netanyahu and appealed to federal authorities for intervention.

"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.

He assured New Yorkers that he understood their concerns and that the city would always honor peaceful protest expressions.

The Hague-based court has charged Netanyahu, his former defense minister and the late Hamas leader with crimes against humanity. Gaza's Health Ministry reports over 73,000 deaths from Israel's campaign, about half of them women and children. Roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, died in the initial Hamas attack on Israel.

Trump informed Netanyahu via a social media post Monday that he "will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America."

Netanyahu is set to visit Washington this week for talks with Trump and to attend services for the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Graham, a prominent defense advocate and firm Israel supporter, passed away suddenly two weeks ago from a suspected torn aorta. The prime minister described him as an "extraordinary American patriot."