New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Tuesday that his office lacks the power to carry out the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging US federal authorities to intervene instead.
“My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here,” Mamdani said in a short video message shared on social media.
“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant. The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant,” he added.
In 2024, the Hague-based court said it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu bore responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which followed the October 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas.
The mayor’s comments came a day after US President Donald Trump on Monday pledged that the Israeli leader would not be arrested if he attended the United Nations General Assembly summit in New York in September.
In the video, Mamdani said “anyone — with their eyes, with their heart, with their conscience — should recognize the devastation he has wrought and understand that he belongs before a court of law, as I’ve said.”
“I agree with the ICC that Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested and tried for his crimes, as I do for anyone else charged by the ICC,” he continued.
Netanyahu’s office rejected the mayor’s position, describing the ICC as a kangaroo court.
Source: Vanguard.
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