New York city Mayor Zohran Mamdani may public comments suggesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could face arrest if he travels to New York to address the United Nations, a position Dan Proft noted lacks any legal basis given that the United States is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court. Proft played audio in which Mamdani defended his position by citing the ICC’s broader mandate to hold individuals accountable for war crimes, drawing a comparison to his earlier criticism of the U.S. arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Proft also played comments from federal judge Roy Altman describing the extensive legal review process Israeli military commanders undergo before authorizing airstrikes in Gaza, including real-time strike cancellations to avoid civilian casualties, which Altman cited as evidence against claims that Israel’s military conduct constitutes genocide.
Proft welcomed Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former National Security Council official, to discuss these developments alongside the broader state of the Iran conflict. Goldberg characterized Mamdani’s political background, including his college-era activism with Students for Justice in Palestine, as reflective of a broader ideological movement combining far-left politics with Islamist sympathies that he argued poses a genuine long-term concern for American political life. He argued that the International Criminal Court’s targeting of American and Israeli officials, absent any jurisdictional basis, represents a dangerous precedent that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rightly begun pushing back against.
Goldberg also addressed a newly announced civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia, noting that the deal explicitly excludes uranium enrichment on Saudi soil due to proliferation concerns, unlike arrangements previously proposed for Iran under the 2015 nuclear agreement. He argued the agreement reflects a broader strategic effort to strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia as a counterweight to Chinese and Russian influence in the region, and noted President Trump’s public statement tying the deal’s progress to Saudi Arabia’s potential entry into the Abraham Accords.
Much of the conversation focused on the ongoing military campaign against Iran, now well into its second week of renewed strikes. Goldberg discussed the strategic significance of Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried nuclear facility near the previously destroyed Natanz site that he said has continued construction since the Biden administration and may now contain relocated centrifuges based on recent intelligence reporting. He argued the facility represents a clear effort by Iran to establish a future nuclear breakout capability and must be addressed militarily.
Goldberg praised the administration’s approach to the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that previous ceasefire arrangements risked becoming a recurring pattern of Iranian provocation followed by negotiated payoffs, and credited President Trump with refusing to continue what he characterized as a extortion-style cycle. He argued that the administration’s decision to avoid publicly telegraphing a timeline for the operation reflects sound strategic messaging, denying Iranian leadership any indication that mounting economic pressure from rising oil prices might force an early American withdrawal. Goldberg expressed confidence that the current campaign, once complete, would allow shipping and oil markets to stabilize on a more durable basis than prior ceasefires had achieved.