What happened
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said New York City cannot execute an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mamdani said the city lacks independent legal authority and urged the United States federal government to join the International Criminal Court and execute the warrant.
Mamdani made the statement in a video posted on X. He called Netanyahu a war criminal and said New York City had reviewed available options before concluding that the city could not enforce the warrant.
Background and earlier position
The arrest-warrant issue has been discussed in the context of Netanyahu's possible visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September. Mamdani had previously discussed arresting Netanyahu if he came to New York for that meeting.
United States President Donald Trump posted that Netanyahu would not be arrested while in the United States. The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, responded by telling Mamdani to stop and criticised him for serving New Yorkers rather than propaganda.
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