NYC Mayor Mamdani in talks over Netanyahu arrest during NYC visit

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says the question of whether to order Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest, should he visit the city in September for the UN General Assembly, remains unresolved.

Mamdani told The New York Times' "The Interview" that he's in "an active conversation" with the city's Law Department over whether he has the legal authority to do so.

As stated by Mamdani, the Israeli leader Netanyahu belongs in the Hague, referring to the International Criminal Court, which recently issued an arrest warrant against him on the grounds of war crimes associated with the war in Gaza in November 2023.

Last year, when running for the presidency, Mamdani said he was going to ask the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu based on this warrant.

The US legal experts had already pointed out that the United States does not acknowledge the authority of the ICC. This week, Mamdani declared that he would remain within the law and not above it.

The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu raised the issue while talking to Sid Rosenberg on the radio, where Netanyahu was untroubled and accused Mamdani of being partial towards Hamas, the group behind the attacks of October 7, 2023, which led Israel to its current war in Gaza.

In Netanyahu's view, Mamdani was "condemning Israel" without recognising who he "champions".

Mamdani has openly criticised the October 7 attacks and does not say anything positive about Hamas, but he has been making Palestinian rights a priority in politics all throughout, according to his supporters.