New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has confirmed his administration is looking into the possibility of arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the UN summit.
Netanyahu is among the world leaders expected to attend the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 8 at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
In an interview with The New York Times, Mamdani declared Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague,” calling him “a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.”
The Mayor emphasized that his opinion is held by many people, “based on what his (Netanyahu’s) actions have wrought over these last many years.”
Mamdani hinted at discussions involving the city’s legal team and the New York Police Department, saying they will implement “whatever the law allows me to do.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, accused Mamdani of inciting hostility and attacking Israel rather than focusing on his duties and tackling “the rising wave of antisemitism” in NYC.
Danon said Netanyahu will be in New York, address the UN, and “state Israel’s truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens.” Mamdani should be arrested instead, the diplomat added.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Gaza.
The Israeli government rejects the allegations and the court’s jurisdiction, while Washington maintains that the ICC lacks authority over non-member nations
The U.S. just launched a campaign to “dismantle” the ICC for posing a threat to Americans, and seeking to become a “global arbiter” and a “supranational enforcement arm of a globalist bureaucracy.”