SerpApi.Org
The mayor of New York has admitted he lacks the legal authority to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, if he visits the city.
Zohran Mamdani had pledged to honour an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
“I believe that prime minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mr Mamdani told the New York Times in an interview published on Saturday.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.”
In a video message posted on Tuesday night, however, he conceded that his government did not have authority to enforce the ICC’s warrant.
“My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here,” Mr Mamdani said.
“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people... while we cannot end the genocide on our own we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon.”
The US is not a party to the ICC and does not recognise its authority, meaning the court’s warrant for Mr Netanyahu does not apply in New York and Mr Mamdani has no legal basis to order an arrest.
Mr Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of the city, has staunchly condemned Israel’s war in Gaza, calling its actions a genocide.
He told the New York Times on Saturday that he was in “an active conversation” with his city’s legal officials on whether the local government had legal power to arrest Mr Netanyahu “but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end”.
Mr Mamdani shifted the pressure to Washington on Tuesday, challenging the federal government to enforce the ICC warrant on the city’s behalf.
It is likely that the appeal will fall on deaf ears. Washington does not recognise the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court, and Donald Trump reinstated sanctions against the tribunal last year, branding its actions against Israel “illegitimate and baseless”.
On Monday, Mr Trump insisted that Mr Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form” while in the US.
Recommended
How Mamdani crushed the pro-Israel vote
Mr Netanyahu told reporters that he was “not concerned” about Mr Mamdani’s statements. Speaking on a local New York radio show last week, the Israeli prime minister accused the mayor of siding with “terror actors”.
“I think [Mamdani] should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising… he’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“He’s with the terror actors,” he said. “And in fact I think secretly he hates America.”
Mr Mamdani has not voiced support for Hamas and has condemned the terror group’s Oct 7 2023 attacks on Israel.
Mr Netanyahu is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly in late September amid mounting political pressure at home, where he faces an ongoing corruption trial, low approval ratings, and fraying diplomatic ties with western capitals.
