Mamdani: Netanyahu should be arrested if he visits NYC, but I won’t rewrite laws to do so

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in an interview published Saturday that he believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested for war crimes if he visits the city in September for the United Nations General Assembly, but indicated that he would not try to amend laws to do so.

Speaking to The New York Times, Mamdani was asked about his campaign pledge to arrest Netanyahu, who has been charged with crimes against humanity for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, following the October 7, 2023 massacre.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. 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 last many years,”  Mamdani said.

“I’ve also said that I will follow the laws that we have here in New York City because I believe that there is an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city,” he said, indicating that he would not seek to actively follow up on his threat.

Pressed on his intentions, Mamdani said that “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.”

Asked specifically what the laws allow, he sad there was “an active conversation with our legal department.”

Mamdani had vowed to send the New York Police Department to enforce arrest warrants against leaders wanted by the International Criminal Court, including Netanyahu or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mamdani has in the past cited an International Criminal Court war crimes arrest warrant as grounds for arresting Netanyahu, but the court does not have jurisdiction in the US, and US federal law makes it illegal for local government to cooperate with the court. A separate federal law prohibits imprisonment and obstruction of foreign officials, including heads of state.

Also, last year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated that “The New York City mayor does not have the power to do that.”

Legal experts have also said Mamdani’s threat to arrest Netanyahu is baseless.

The Hague-based ICC last said it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu was responsible for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza following the unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack.

Israel vociferously denies the allegations and accusations of genocide in Gaza.

Since the indictments were filed, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has been suspended following a probe into accusations of sexual harassment made against him.

New York is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, as well as the United Nations, where Netanyahu has regularly attended the annual General Assembly. Netanyahu has said he does not intend to be deterred from attending by Mamdani’s threats.

In the wide-ranging interview, Mamdani was also asked about the centrality of his anti-Israel policies to his world view and his refusal to support pro-Israel candidates in the Democratic party.

“I think what we have seen from New Yorkers, what we’ve seen from Americans, when we talk about this hunger for a new kind of politics, it’s a hunger to move beyond the bankruptcy that characterizes a lot of politics today. And it is hard to find a more bankrupt policy approach than what our country has done to Gaza and to Palestine and how it hasn’t been specific to any one party,” Mamdani said.

Asked if a politician’s views on Gaza and a willingness to call it a genocide would be a litmus test for him, Mamdani replied: “I think it’s an important part. I wouldn’t say that there’s a specific litmus test as to creating a cookie cutter of a person that I would endorse in any one seat. What I would say is that you have to have a clear vision of being able to describe things as they are, and being able to fight for that which working people have been denied.”

Asked if he would back former vice president Kamala Harris in another run for the presidency, Mamdani said he would only do so if she changed her support for military assistance to Israel.

“I think that the first step for anyone looking to run is to be honest about what we see today and what it would take to change that. And when I say what it will take, one of the common features between all of the people that I endorsed for Congress was that each one of these candidates spoke about how they would sign on to the Block the Bombs legislation [which would restrict the sale or transfer of specific weapons to Israel]. It speaks about an unwillingness to continue to be complicit in a genocide,” he said.

“And we’re talking about billions of dollars in material support. So I think the first step for any presidential candidate looking to earn the trust of people across the country is a recognition of what our policy has wrought and what a different policy would deliver,” Mamdani said.

However, Mamdani indicated that he would still accept pro-Israel Democrats in the party.

“My point is that the importance of a big tent; it’s critical that we can work with those with whom we might not have agreement on every single issue. And you can even see in the administration that I’ve put together, it’s not an administration where at every job interview I ask someone, “What are your thoughts about Israel and Palestine?,” he said.

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