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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) says he is reviewing whether his administration could arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his anticipated visit to the city for the U.N. General Assembly this fall.
The mayor made these comments an interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro on Saturday episode of The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court, 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 past many years.”
The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest in 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine, including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “other inhumane acts.”
The mayor, who has characterized the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza as a genocide, told the Times during his mayoral campaign last year that he would order the city’s police department to arrest the country’s leader.
Netanyahu brushed off the threat in a recent radio interview, accusing the mayor of supporting Hamas. Mamdani has denied this accusation.
“He’s with the terror actors,” the prime minister told WABC host Sid Rosenberg. “And I think the problem is that he doesn’t recognize and he doesn’t care that those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately hate America.”
World leaders from United Nations member-states are expected to travel to New York City in September for the body’s annual session. Netanyahu has often participated in this event in years past. Mamdani told the Times that he will “follow the laws” of the city.
When pressed by Garcia-Navarro about what he meant by this, Mamdani replied, “That’s an active conversation with our legal department.”
“We’re not talking about a personal assessment of Benjamin Netanyahu,” the mayor said. “We’re talking about the International Criminal Court and the fact that they have a warrant out for this prime minister’s arrest, and I think it’s important to talk about the weight that that has as a charge and that also, as the mayor of New York City, I’ll be following the laws of New York City.”
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