Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia \u2013 New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has stated\nthat he is exploring legal options to arrest Israeli Prime Minister\nBenjamin Netanyahu. The planned arrest is targeted to take place when\nthe Israeli leader travels to New York City to attend the UN General\nAssembly scheduled for September.<\/p>\n
Quoting a report by Russia Today on Sunday (19\/07\/2026), Mamdani\nrevealed that he is engaged in intensive discussions with the city\u2019s law\ndepartment to examine the potential legality of such an arrest. This\nbold move comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an\narrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 over allegations of war\ncrimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Mamdani, who has consistently labelled Israel\u2019s military campaign in\nGaza as genocide, had already promised during last year\u2019s mayoral\ncampaign to arrest Netanyahu if the Prime Minister set foot in New York.\nWhen pressed again about delivering on that political promise during a\npodcast appearance over the weekend, the Mayor affirmed that his legal\nposition had not changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He is a war\ncriminal who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court, and\nwhat you will find is that this view is held by many people, purely\nbecause of what his actions have produced over the past few years,\u201d\nMamdani said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that is what we\nwill do. However, we will not write our own laws for that purpose,\u201d he\nadded, regarding the limits of his authority.<\/p>\n
The arrest plan immediately sparked a strong reaction and\ncondemnation from Israeli diplomatic circles. Israel\u2019s Ambassador to the\nUN, Danny Danon, accused Mamdani of failing to confront the wave of\nrising antisemitism in his city and choosing instead to incite hostility\ntowards the Jewish state.<\/p>\n
Israeli officials confirmed that Netanyahu still intends to deliver a\nspeech during the annual High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly on\n22\u201328 September, and the mayor\u2019s threat would not change that\ndecision.<\/p>\n
For his part, Netanyahu said he was not worried at all about the\narrest threat issued by New York\u2019s top official. In a separate radio\ninterview, the Israeli leader went on the offensive and levelled\npolitical accusations at the Mayor.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if there is anyone who should be arrested, it is the Mayor of\nNew York, Zohran Mamdani,\u201d Danon stated in an official post on social\nmedia platform X.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu accused the New York Mayor of being a defender of Hamas and\nof hating the United States. Meanwhile, from a federal legal standpoint,\nofficial representatives of UN member states generally receive full\ndiplomatic immunity while making official state visits.<\/p>\n
Moreover, neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the ICC,\nand US federal law strictly prohibits state or local authorities from\ncooperating with requests from the international court. New York\nGovernor Kathy Hochul even asserted last year that the Mayor of New York\nhas essentially no legal authority whatsoever to arrest Netanyahu.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-york-mayor-mamdani-explores-legal-options-to-arrest-netanyahu-during-un-visit-1784505029", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }