New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani: Netanyahu will be arrested if he visits the city!
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, reiterated his campaign promise that if he wins the election, he will order the New York Police Department to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in the city, providing new details on how he will implement his campaign pledge.
This is the second time in a week that the 33-year-old candidate, who is leading his rivals by a significant margin in opinion polls, has brought the debate over Israel back to the heart of the election race.
He has previously pledged to cancel municipal investments in Israel.
In an interview with The New York Times, Mamdani stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide in Gaza.
He added that if the Israeli leader visits New York, he will implement an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu by arresting him at the airport.
Legal experts have indicated that arresting Netanyahu would be virtually impossible, and some have said it could violate federal law.
However, Mamdani’s pledge is likely to provoke strong reactions in New York, home to the world’s second-largest Jewish population.
Although New Yorkers now generally express support for the Palestinians against Israel in its war with Hamas, Mamdani’s pledge may complicate his attempt to reassure a segment of Jewish leaders who have expressed concern about some of his positions, including his refusal to condemn the phrase globalizing the intifada.
He has since stated that he will discourage use of the phrase, even as he maintains his position that Israel’s leader is a war criminal.
Zohran Mamdani had previously stated during his mayoral campaign that he would arrest Netanyahu.
In an interview with the New York Times, he didn’t back down from his position, but rather provided new details, confirming that he would order the police to arrest Netanyahu upon his arrival in the city.
“This is something I intend to achieve, and it’s up to Democrats at the state and local levels to demonstrate that they are willing to take action where the federal government will not,” Mamdani said.
He cited a decision made by Gavin Newsom, the current governor of California, in 2004, when, as mayor of San Francisco, he defied federal law and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Mamdani added, “This is a moment when we can’t rely on the federal government for leadership… It’s a moment when cities and states must show what standing up for our values and our people really looks like”.
The United States isn’t a signed party of the International Criminal Court and doesn’t recognize its authority.
US President Trump moved to sanction the court in February for issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu, arguing that it “has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel”.
The New York mayoral candidate also stated that he would also arrest Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, for whom the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in 2023.
“I want to ensure that this city is a defender of international law,” he said.
Experts said that any attempt to force the police to arrest Netanyahu or Putin under the pretext of executing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court would almost certainly put Mamdani in conflict with the federal government.
