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New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said his administration is still considering whether it has the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York for the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September, according to an interview with The New York Times.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” he was quoted as saying by The New York Times, referring to the International Court of Justice.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” he added.
“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 last many years.”
Mamdani claimed to be in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department to determine whether he has the authority to direct the New York Police Department to detain a 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 was quoted as saying by the NYT.
The mayor had previously told the news outlet during his election campaign that he would instruct police to arrest Netanyahu in line with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant related to the Gaza invasion, which Mamdani and a UN commission have described as a genocide.
Netanyahu dismissed the prospect of arrest in a recent radio interview, saying he was unconcerned and accusing Mamdani of supporting Hamas, the Palestinian paramilitary group that launched the Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the invasion in Gaza.
“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising,” Netanyahu said in the interview with radio host Sid Rosenberg, according to the NYT.
“He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values. And in fact I think, secretly, he hates America.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon accused Mamdani of failing to adequately address rising antisemitism in New York City.
The New York Times reported Mamdani as rejecting the allegation, saying his administration increased funding for the city’s office dedicated to combating hate crimes.
Mamdani has condemned the Oct 7 attacks while criticising Israel as a defining part of his political platform.
According to The New York Times, people close to him say he views Palestinian liberation as one of the defining moral issues of his generation.
