New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has stated that he is considering seeking the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he travel to the city in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
“I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu should be tried in The Hague,” the mayor said during The New York Times’ program *The Interview*, referring to the arrest warrants issued against him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip. “He is a war criminal, and after what his government has done in recent years, this is a view shared by many.”
Mamdani has consistently been a harsh critic of Israel’s policies. During his election campaign, he promised that, if elected mayor, he would order Netanyahu’s arrest should he visit the city. He has now sought the opinion of the city’s legal office and begun consultations to determine whether the mayor has the authority to order the local police to arrest a foreign head of state. “We will do everything the law allows us to do in New York, but we will not write new laws to achieve this goal,” he clarified.
Netanyahu’s reaction was swift: as usual, he accused the mayor of being a supporter of Hamas and an enemy of Israel.