House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries avoided a direct reply Friday on CNN OutFront when asked if he backs New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on United States membership in the International Criminal Court and detention of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The host had shown Mamdani pressing for America to join the court, apply every warrant including Netanyahu’s over alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, and calling him the designer of genocide.

Jeffries noted he had not spoken with Mamdani about foreign policy at all and called the mayor’s early tenure successful at maintaining safety and pursuing cheaper living.

He added that a repeat of October 7 and Gaza’s three years of deaths and wreckage must both be blocked, with Israel remaining a secure Jewish democracy next to a Palestinian state whose people enjoy dignity and autonomy.