New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday his office lacks the authority to enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging federal officials to act instead, AFP reports.
“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 video message posted 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.”
The ICC, based in The Hague, announced in 2024 that it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu was responsible for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to Israel’s offensive in Gaza following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 cross‑border attack.
US President Donald Trump vowed Monday that Netanyahu would not face arrest if he attends September’s United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In his 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.”
He added, “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.”
Netanyahu’s office dismissed Mamdani’s remarks, calling the ICC a “kangaroo court.”
