SerpApi.Org
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is doubling down on his promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrives for the United Nations General Assembly in a few weeks.
Hizzoner's remarks have generated a firestorm of criticism.
"My administration will follow all applicable local laws"
With the General Assembly due to convene in less than two months, the mayor is refusing to back off his insistence that he is involved in active conversation with his lawyers about arresting Israel's leader when he steps foot in New York City.
"I believe that when someone is charged with an International Criminal Court warrant, it's something that should be taken seriously, whether it's Benjamin Netanyahu or it's Vladimir Putin or whomever else," Mamdani said. "What I've also made clear is that my administration will follow all applicable local laws."
As CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer reports, there really is no local law governing the arrest of a foreign head of state. Federal law dictates foreign policy and diplomatic relations, and any government official coming to the UN is protected by absolute head-of-state diplomatic immunity.
What that ultimately means is Mamdani cannot arrest Netanyahu, and if he did federal agents would have to intervene, Kramer reported.
Kean University Provost David Birdsell said the U.S. does not recognize the International Criminal Court over American citizens, and in addition the city of New York has no say.
"The federal government gets to determine the foreign policy of the United States and certainly not cities," Birdsell said. "It's very clear the mayor does not have the authority to arrest."
Trump, Fetterman react to possible arrest
President Trump was unequivocal that Mamdani has no authority to go after the Israeli leader.
"Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," the president said on social media. "He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American soldiers, and others. The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction."
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was even more blunt.
"So he's just a clown to even say that," Fetterman said.
Jewish leaders sound off on Mamdani
Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, of the Rabbi Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, said the mayor's threats to go after Netanyahu can lead to a rise in antisemitism.
"He's doing it purely for political theater. He's doing because he's a demagogue. He knows that by demonizing Israel, he can rile up his base, and, unfortunately, the side effect of that is that Jews in New York City feel the side effects of this anti-Zionist baiting," Steinmetz said.
"It empowers antisemites," he added. "That's the problem with the mayor's rhetoric and he refuses to see this. He refuses to take a look at what anti-Zionist rhetoric can do, because I have to tell you that when people raise the level of hatred of Israel in the streets, it's the Jews that are going to get attacked."
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN in New York, also took Mamdani to task.
"The person who should be arrested is not our prime minister, it is you, Mr. Mamdani," Danon said. "The same mayor who continues to fuel antisemitism across New York, and now, the same mayor who threatens Israel's prime minister with arrest powers he does not have."
