'Not going to happen,' US envoy says of Mamdani threat to arrest Netanyahu

Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Saturday that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s threat to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested during the U.N. General Assembly is “pure political theater.”

“Mayor Mamdani. Here’s why your threat to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu’s in New York City during U.N. General Assembly is not going to happen,” the U.S. envoy stated. “The United States is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the International Criminal Court. The U.N. Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of government. Head-of-state immunity applies, and federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes.”

The General Assembly is scheduled for early September.

Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in New York, said that “if anyone should be arrested, it is New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.”

“Mamdani is failing to govern New York. Instead of focusing on his responsibilities as mayor and confronting the rising wave of antisemitism in his city, he has chosen to incite hostility and generate headlines by attacking the State of Israel,” Danon stated. “It will not change a thing. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride and stand before the world to state Israel’s truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens.”

Mark Treyger, CEO of JCRC-NY, stated that “New Yorkers elected a mayor to make our city safer, stronger and more affordable. Not to conduct foreign policy.”

“The mayor should be in active conversations about raising pay for New York City’s paraprofessionals, early childhood educators, EMS workers and other essential city workers whose futures are directly within the city’s responsibility.”

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