Netanyahu’s office attacks NYC mayor over arrest threat
What’s new: The clash centers on whether New York could act on the ICC warrant if Netanyahu attends the UN meeting in September.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office rebuked New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani after the mayor said he was reviewing whether city authorities could detain Netanyahu during the United Nations General Assembly in September. In an interview published July 18, Mamdani said he was consulting New York City’s legal team on the extent of a mayor’s authority to direct police action against a foreign leader. He said Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague” because the International Criminal Court charged him in 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to Israel’s Gaza offensive after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Netanyahu’s office rejected the warrant as illegitimate and accused Mamdani of using the issue to deflect from local politics.