Will Benjamin Netanyahu be arrested in NYC? Zohran Mamdani promises that “we have no” legal authority | Today’s news
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has again launched a scathing attack against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a “war criminal”. But he backtracked on his earlier promise to arrest Netanyahu if he flew to New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly in September.
Mamdani said in a new video on Tuesday that he does not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu should he come to New York.
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“My administration has reviewed all available avenues under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute an International Criminal Court warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu were to come here,” Mamdani said in a video posted on X.
“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant. However, the federal government does and I urge them to join the ICC and execute this warrant,” Mamdani said.
On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity for actions taken in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.
Mamdani’s post came days after he told The New York Times that he was working with his administration’s legal team on how to arrest Netanyahu for his “alleged war crimes.” He claimed that Netanyahu was a “war criminal” who “belongs in The Hague”.
Read also | Netanyahu’s office hits back at NYC Mayor Mamdani over arrest remarks
New York City’s mayor said in an interview that city officials are engaged in “active conversation” with the city’s legal department to determine the exact scope of local legal authority should the Israeli prime minister come to the city.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York, that’s what we’re going to do,” Mamdani said, clarifying that his office is not trying to enact new local laws to enforce the measure.
Trump reacts to Mamdani’s remarks
US President Donald Trump said Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will not be arrested while in the United States of America,” after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration was exploring legal avenues to detain the Israeli leader.
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“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested in any way, shape, or form as long as he is in the United States of America. He is fighting the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protesters and has spent the last 47 years killing American soldiers and others. The only people who should be arrested are the people who were supposed to bring Iran to Destruction and Destruction of the SPI into this evil, previous presidents dealt with years ago, President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote.
Netanyahu’s office responds: ‘Mamdani should focus on…’
The office of the Israeli Prime Minister sharply criticized the statement of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
An official response issued on Sunday dismissed the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu as “bogus,” calling the international body a “kangaroo court” that has no jurisdiction over either Israel or the United States.
The statement alleged that former ICC prosecutor Karim Khan initiated the issuance of the warrant as a diversionary tactic from subsequent sexual abuse allegations against him.
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In a scathing rebuke published on X, the Prime Minister’s Office claimed that Mamdani was emulating Khan’s strategy by targeting Israel to obfuscate issues of domestic governance in New York.
“Instead of supporting Khan’s criminal behavior, Mr. Mamdani should focus on repairing the damage his policies have caused in New York,” the official statement said.
It claimed the mayor was biased by targeting “the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.
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“The Israeli administration also launched a defense of its ongoing operations in Gaza, claiming the military had implemented “unprecedented war measures” aimed at reducing civilian casualties in the fight against Hamas, which it accused of deploying civilians as human shields.
Israel has consistently denied the allegations and questioned the court’s legal status. Additionally, the United States remains a non-signatory to the Rome Statute, meaning Washington has no international legal obligation to detain or extradite individuals wanted by the ICC.
