PHOTO: REUTERS
NY mayor says city cannot arrest Netanyahu on ICC warrant
· The Straits Times- New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated the city lacks authority to arrest Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on the ICC warrant and urged US federal officials to act.
- The ICC accuses Netanyahu of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Israel's Gaza offensive after Hamas' October 2023 attack.
- Mamdani supports Netanyahu's arrest and trial, while Netanyahu's office rejects the ICC's legitimacy, calling it a kangaroo court.
NEW YORK – New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on July 21 his office does not have the authority to carry out the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and called on US federal officials to step in.
“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 brief video message posted to 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 Hague-based International Criminal Court 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 brutal cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023.
US President Donald Trump on July 20 vowed the Israeli Prime Minister would not face arrest if he attended September’s United Nations General Assembly summit in New York.
In the video, Mamdani said: “Anyone – with their eyes, with their heart, with their conscience – should recognise the devastation he has wrought and understand that he belongs before a court of law, as I’ve said.
“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,” he added.
Netanyahu’s office has dismissed Mamdani’s stance and said the ICC is a kangaroo court. AFP