NY mayor Mamdani floats Netanyahu arrest during UN summit — Israel fires back
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration is examining whether it has the legal authority to act on the International Criminal Court’s warrant should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visit the UN in September. — AFP pic
First Published: Sunday, 19 Jul 2026 9:50 AM MYT
NEW YORK, July 19 — New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is in talks over whether to try to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an upcoming UN summit, he said in an interview published yesterday — prompting a sharp rebuke from Netanyahu’s camp.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani told The New York Times. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.”
The leftist Mamdani, who has called Israel an “apartheid regime,” added: “That is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”
Mamdani admitted he was not sure if he has the power to order the New York Police Department to detain a foreign leader but is discussing the matter with the city’s legal team.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do,” he said.
The UN General Assembly, a major gathering of world leaders, takes place in September at UN headquarters in New York.
Mamdani in the past has vowed to send the NYPD to enforce arrest warrants against leaders wanted by the International Criminal Court, including Netanyahu or Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Hague-based ICC said in 2024 that it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu was responsible for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Israel’s offensive in Gaza following the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, quickly called out Mamdani.
“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 wrote on X.
“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,” he said.
“And if anyone should be arrested, it is @NYCMayor Zohran Mamdani.”
Netanyahu has accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas, saying on a recent New York radio show: “I think, secretly, he hates America.” — AFP
United States government signed a treaty with the UN at its founding, committing diplomatic immunity for delegates to the UN, including for attendees the UN General Assembly.
ReplyDeleteMamdani cannot make his own rules.
Yet the yankee has selectively barred many other nations' UN delegates from entering Yankeeland to attend UN functions.
DeleteSo, mfer, where the standing of that diplomatic immunity treaty in yr understanding?
Will he arrest the Iranian leader who killed 40k civilians in January?
ReplyDeleteNow THIS is his job. Collect the traffic fines lah…..
ReplyDeleteForeign diplomats owe New York City roughly $16 million to $17.2 million in unpaid parking tickets, with the vast majority of this debt having been accumulated prior to a 2002 city crackdown.
Egypt tops the list with nearly $2 million in outstanding parking fines. Other top offenders include Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil, Morocco, and Pakistan, each owing the city more than $500,000.
The VAST MAJORITY of the fines are from Ishmael countries.
Stick To Your Job - Cuci Longkang Sumbat Lah.
ReplyDeleteZohran Mamdani won the mayor’s race after promising to arrest Netanyahu if he ever set foot in New York.
Now Bibi is scheduled to speak at the United Nations in a couple of months, and Mamdani is trapped.
He has no legal authority to arrest a foreign head of state with diplomatic immunity. Federal agents would stop any attempt immediately.
Will he try to fulfill the promise that got him elected… or quietly back down?
https://x.com/mosabhasanyosef/status/2078861728658391214?s=46&t=8K6fzabO3g6uaj4KxwSSjg