Mamdani ridiculed for sharp U-turn on Bibi's arrest as he makes desperate plea to the feds

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani admitted in a video statement Tuesday night that he is unable to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Though Mamdani had previously acknowledged that his intent to detain Netanyahu might face legal difficulties, he repeatedly expressed a desire to do it.

In the video, he branded Netanyahu a 'war criminal' and urged the federal government to consider arresting the Israeli PM based on the outstanding International Criminal Court warrant against him.

'It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,' Mamdani said. 'The federal government, however, does.'

'Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City,' Mamdani added. 'Nor is any other war criminal at large.'

Netanyahu may be in DC next week for Lindsey Graham's funeral, and is expected to travel to New York in September for the UN General Assembly. 

Republican New York City Council member Inna Vernikov mocked Mamdani on X for failing to follow through on a campaign promise, asking why he didn't have his legal team evaluate the idea 'before you made it a core promise to your comrades.'

Conservative commentator Stephen Miller described the Mayor's U-turn as 'just another broken campaign promise for his goober electorate' in a post of his own.

'It is utterly ridiculous for the mayor of New York City to even suggest that he might have the authority to order the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu or any visiting foreign head of state,' Honig said on CNN's 'The Source' on Monday. 

Honig and others have pointed out that the US does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, meaning an ICC warrant has no legal impact here. 

International diplomacy is generally the purview of the federal government, not local city governments - hence Mamdani's request that a higher power take action against Netanyahu.

Mamdani's office made headlines earlier this month when his international affairs chief reportedly tried to meet with Iran's ambassador to the UN, leading to a State Department rebuke. 

Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were accused by the ICC in 2024 of having committed crimes against humanity during Israel's war in Gaza.

Senator Tim Scott replied to Mamdani's video on X, declaring that labeling Netanyahu a war criminal was 'utterly ridiculous.'

Earlier this week, Donald Trump defended the Israeli PM on Truth Social.

'Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,' Trump wrote in a Monday post. 

Mamdani's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.