The mayor of New York said he was discussing the legal possibility of arresting the Israeli Prime Minister during the UN General Assembly in September, which provoked a strong reaction from the Israeli ambassador.
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by
Lusa
“I believe the Prime Minister Netanyahu should be in The Hague. He is a war criminal subject to a warrant for the arrest of the International Criminal Court.” (TPI), Zohran Mamdani told The New York Times in an interview published today.
However, Mamdani indicated that he is not sure if he has the authority to arrest a foreign leader like Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he is keeping “active arguments” with the New York authorities on the matter.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York is what we do”, he added.
The United Nations General Assembly (AG), the great annual meeting of leaders from around the world, takes place in September at the UN headquarters in New York.
The mayor had already promised to send the municipal police to execute arrest warrants against the leaders wanted by the ICC, namely Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the UN, immediately responded to the mayor of New York, stating that he chose to “start hostility and make paragons by attacking the State of Israel”.
“That won’t change anything. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to New York, speak proudly to the United Nations General Assembly and affirm before the whole world the truth of Israel as well as its unwavering right to defend its citizens,” he added on social network X.
On a New York radio, the Israeli Prime Minister accused Zohran Mamdani of supporting Hamas, stating: “I think deep down he hates the United States.”
From the left wing of the Democratic Party, Zohran Mamdani had already classified Israel as an “apartheid regime”, denouncing the offensive in the Gaza Strip as a “genocide”. The politician also spoke publicly on several occasions against anti-Semitism.
The ICC, based in The Hague, issued arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and against humanity in the Gaza Strip, as part of the Israeli offensive launched in retaliation for Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023.