In new video, Mamdani acknowledges he doesn’t have authority to arrest Netanyahu

By Katherine Koretski, CNN

New York (CNN) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a new video Tuesday that he does not have the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to come to New York City.

In a video posted on X, Mamdani said, “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. 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 post comes just days after Mamdani said in an interview with The New York Times that he was working with his administration’s legal team on how to execute the arrest of Netanyahu for his “alleged war crimes.”

President Donald Trump weighed in on the debate on Truth Social Monday, saying Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form.”

Netanyahu could visit New York later this year to attend the United Nations’ general assembly. His office previously accused Mamdani of “diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.”

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