Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Sunday for suggesting the possibility of arresting Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to the United Nations General Assembly. The statement, released via social media platform X, urged Mamdani to focus on resolving the damage caused by his policies in New York.
Netanyahu’s office remarked, “Like International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, Mamdani seems to want to divert attention from his mistakes by attacking the leader of the Jewish state, the only democracy in the Middle East.” Khan was suspended earlier this June amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving a member of his team.
In an interview with the New York Times published Saturday, Mayor Mamdani asserted that “Prime Minister Netanyahu has his place in The Hague. He is a war criminal subject to an arrest warrant” issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Mamdani acknowledged uncertainty regarding his authority to detain a foreign leader but mentioned he is in “active discussions” with New York authorities about the matter. He stated, “We will do whatever the law allows me to do in New York,” as the United Nations General Assembly, an annual gathering of global leaders, is set to take place in September at the UN headquarters in New York.
