New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is leading discussions on the legal possibility of arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly in September, a possibility that sparked a sharp reaction from the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.
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“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu has his place in The Hague. He is a war criminal targeted by an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court” (ICC), he told the New York Times, in an interview published on Saturday.
But Mr. Mamdani indicated that he did not know if he had the power to question a foreign leader such as Benjamin Netanyahu, specifying that he was engaged in “active discussions” with the New York authorities on the subject.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York, that’s what we’ll do,” he added.
The United Nations General Assembly, a major annual meeting of leaders from around the world, is held in September at the UN headquarters in New York.
The mayor had already promised to send municipal police to execute arrest warrants against leaders wanted by the ICC, including Mr. Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the UN, immediately responded to the mayor of New York, affirming that he was choosing to “stir up hostility and make headlines by attacking the State of Israel”.
“It won’t change anything. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit New York, speak with pride before the United Nations General Assembly and affirm to the whole world the truth of Israel and its unwavering right to defend its citizens,” he added on X.
On a New York radio station, the Israeli Prime Minister accused Zohran Mamdani of supporting Hamas, declaring: “I think deep down he hates the United States.”
Coming from the left wing of the Democratic Party, Zohran Mamdani had already described Israel as an “apartheid regime” denouncing the offensive in the Gaza Strip as a “genocide”. He has also repeatedly spoken out against anti-Semitism.
The ICC, based in The Hague, issued arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and against humanity in the Gaza Strip as part of the Israeli offensive carried out in retaliation for the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.
