Shafaqna Pakistan: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Saturday that his administration is examining whether it has the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city for the UN General Assembly in September, according to The New York Times.
Speaking on The New York Times’ The Interview podcast with Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Mamdani said he believes Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague,” describing him as a war criminal facing charges at the International Criminal Court.
He added that his administration is in active discussions with the New York City Law Department to determine whether the mayor has the authority to direct the New York Police Department to detain a visiting foreign leader.
“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,” he said.
Mamdani had previously said during his mayoral campaign that he would seek to enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu if the Israeli leader visited New York.
Netanyahu dismissed the prospect in a recent interview with radio host Sid Rosenberg, accusing Mamdani of supporting Hamas.
“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising,” Netanyahu said. “He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values.”
Mamdani has repeatedly condemned Israel’s military campaign in Gaza while also denouncing Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
In the interview, Mamdani also criticised US policy towards Gaza, saying it is “hard to find a more bankrupt policy approach than what our country has done to Gaza and to Palestine”.
He also expressed support for the possibility of Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez running for president in 2028, defended New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s leadership, criticised President Donald Trump’s immigration policies while backing cooperation on serious criminal cases and said affordability remains the defining challenge facing New Yorkers.
Source: Express Tribune
