New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said his administration is considering 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.
In an interview with The New York Times' The Interview podcast, Mamdani said that, in his opinion, Netanyahu should face international justice.
"I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He is a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court," Mamdani said.
He announced that he is in consultation with the New York City Department of Law to determine whether the mayor has the authority to instruct the New York Police Department (NYPD) to detain a foreign leader.
"Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, we will do it. But we will not create new laws just for this occasion," he declared.
Mamdani had made the same promise during his mayoral campaign, saying he would try to enforce the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu if the latter visited New York.
On the other hand, Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed this possibility. In a recent interview, he accused Mamdani of holding positions in support of Hamas.
"I think he needs to see who he's condemning and who he's praising. He's condemning Israel, the only democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values," Netanyahu said.
Mamdani has consistently condemned Israel's military offensive in Gaza, while also condemning Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
In the same interview, he also harshly criticized the United States' policy towards Gaza, calling it "one of the most bankrupt political approaches" of recent years.
The New York mayor also spoke about other issues of American politics, expressing support for a possible run by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for president in 2028, defending the leadership of New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, criticizing President Donald Trump's immigration policies and emphasizing that affordability remains a major challenge for city residents.
