Mayor Mamdani doubles down on threat to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
LOWER MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on his threat on Monday, that he would not hesitate to order the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he attends the United Nations General Assembly in September.
"When someone is charged with an International Criminal Court warrant, it's something that should be taken seriously," Mamdani said.
The mayor said the city would seek to uphold a warrant for Netanyahu's arrest issued nearly two years ago over the war in Gaza. It's a threat he first issued during his mayoral campaign and repeated in an interview with The New York Times late last week.
"I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague," he said. "He's a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court."
Mamdani has called the Israeli offensive in Gaza an act of "genocide" that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians. He's also condemned the Hamas attacks of October 7, which killed 1,200 Israelis, and started the war. Netanyahu is expected to attend the general assembly.
"Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do," Mamdani said.
Posting on social media on Monday, President Donald Trump quickly ruled it out.
"Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," he said on WABC Radio.
Netanyahu himself dismissed the threat.
"He's with the terror actors. And, I think the problem is, you know, that he doesn't recognize or he doesn't care that those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately hate America," Netanyahu said.
Rabbi Joe Potasnik served on the mayor's transition team.
"If you are the mayor, you should find opportunities to bring communities together, not to tear them apart," Potasnik said. "So, I wish you would focus on that and not the other."
Mamdani admitted that arresting the prime minister may be legally dubious and practically impossible, but city lawyers are looking into it.
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