New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated his workplace is still looking into arresting Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister visits town for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Speaking on The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast, Mamdani stated his administration’s authorized division is actively discussing the potential arrest of Netanyahu, one thing he vowed on the marketing campaign path to pursue.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani stated. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court. And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”
Asked what he believed the regulation allowed him to do, Mamdani responded: “That’s an active conversation with our legal department. However, what we’ve seen at the national level is a desire sometimes to write your own laws, to go outside of the bounds of legality. That’s not something we have an interest in.”
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and different Israeli leaders in 2024, accusing them of warfare crimes throughout and after the October 7, 2023, Hamas assaults on Israel. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden have denounced the ICC warrant.
The US has not ratified the Rome Statute, which obliges international locations to arrest individuals who have ICC warrants towards them. The Trump administration has escalated its long-running battle towards the ICC, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio lately promising to “dismantle” the courtroom and accusing it of “waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles” however with “the force of so-called international law.”
Mamdani is a fierce critic of the Israeli authorities and has repeatedly criticized Israel’s warfare in Gaza as a “genocide.” Israel denies these claims.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Saturday referred to as the mayor’s feedback “pure political theater” and famous the US is just not a member of the ICC.
Speaking to WABC radio host Sid Rosenberg earlier within the week, Netanyahu dismissed considerations about Mamdani’s requires his arrest.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, stated on social media Saturday that Netanyahu “will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride, and stand before the world to state Israel’s truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens.”