New York City mayor says legal options for Netanyahu’s arrest are under review

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said the city’s legal department is examining whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested if he travels to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September. Speaking to The New York Times, Mamdani said any action would be taken only within the limits of existing law. “We will do whatever the law in New York allows us to do, but we will not write new laws to achieve that goal,” he said. Mamdani confirmed that discussions with the city’s legal department were ongoing to determine what legal authority, if any, the city would have in such a situation. He also said he believed Netanyahu “should be in The Hague”, referring to the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Mamdani described Netanyahu as “a war criminal” and said many people shared that view because of the consequences of Israel’s actions in recent years.