New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week revealed that discussions on whether to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in the United States, were still underway among the members of his administration, the New York Times reported.
Netanyahu is likely to attend the United Nations General Assembly in the US in September this year.
Reiterating his views, Mamdani, in an interview to the NYT, said: “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague.” The Hague in Netherlands is the home of the UN’s International Court of Justice.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani told the interviewer Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
He added, “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.”
Does Mamdani have legal authority to order Netanyahu’s arrest?
While the mayor expressed he was unsure if he had the legal authority to order the Police Department to detain a foreign leader, he said he was in “an active conversation” with New York’s Law Department on the matter, according to the report.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” Mamdani added.
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His comments come ahead of the scheduled parliamentary elections in Israel on October 27, where PM Netanyahu-led government would become the first dispensation to complete its full term in more than 50 years, according to the Times of Israel.
Last year, during his mayoral campaign, Zohran Mamdani asserted in an interview with NYT that he would order the Police Department to arrest Netanyahu.
He also said that such an arrest would be honoring a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Netanyahu’s role in the war in the Gaza Strip, which Mamdani has referred to as genocide.
Netanyahu’s response
Addressing Mamdani’s threat to arrest him, Netanyahu expressed it wasn’t a matter of concern for him. Moreover, during the radio appearance, he accused the Mayor of supporting Hamas.
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“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising,” the Israeli PM said during an interview early this week with radio personality Sid Rosenberg, who is also a frequent critic of Mamdani.
“He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values,” Netanyahu added.
“Who does he champion? Hamas, that calls openly to massacre every Jew on earth, that conducted that horrible massacre, the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu intensified his attack on Mamdani.
He also said that the NYC mayor “does not care” that “those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately hate America.” “And in fact I think, secretly, he hates America,” the prime minister added.
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Israel accuses Mamdani at UN
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, over a statement on Saturday, too, accused Mamdani of failing to focus adequately on rising antisemitism in NYC.
“Israeli Prime Minister 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,” Danon said.
Mamdani’s reaction to Israel
Mamdani has so far rejected these accusations, pointing out that he had increased funding for an office to combat hate crimes.
He has also condemned the October 7 attacks.
Commenting on the political weight Mamdani places on Israel, he said the war was motivating voters throughout the US, including as seen in June House races in New York, when his endorsed candidates emerged victorious, NYT quoted.
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“It is hard to find a more bankrupt policy approach than what our country has done to Gaza and to Palestine,” Mamdani added.
Prospective presidential candidate in 2028
During the interview, Mamdani also spoke positively about the prospect that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York — a democratic socialist — may run for president in 2028. “I think she’d make a good anything,” he said.
On immigration
Mamdani denounced US President Donald Trump’s immigration strategy, however, said that border security was indeed important. He expressed his willingness “to work with the federal government” when immigrants get convicted of serious crimes, NYT reported.
“What we are unwilling to do,” he added, “is to participate in civil immigration enforcement with a federal government that has said openly it wants to deport a vast majority of people for crimes that we will never even know.”
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On poor and working-class New Yorkers
The mayor also highlighted his views on the economic struggles of New Yorkers who fall into income thresholds higher than what was traditionally considered poor or working-class, according to the report.
When asked if he would consider those making $250,000 a year working class, he replied: “I haven’t asked myself where it starts and stops. What I would say is those who are working to try and afford the basic dignities of life and aren’t able to do so, I think that that is also working class.”
