New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has called on the US federal government to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the US later this year.
In a video posted on social media, Mamdani said the Israeli prime minister is the “architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Mamdani said he supported the International Criminal Court’s decision to issues a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest, but that his administration did not have the authority to enforce it.
Therefore, he urged the federal government to join the ICC and execute the arrest warrant.
“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,” Mamdani said. “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 mayor added.
Mamdani said Netanyahu is “not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large.”
His comments come ahead of an expected visit to New York Netanyahu is set to make in September for the UN general assembly.
Earlier this month, Mamdani had said he was reviewing whether he would have the power to arrest Netanyahu during the visit.
However, his comments have been dismissed by Donald Trump, who said Netanyahu would not be arrested on US soil.
In a post on social media, Trump said “the only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction.”
The US has never been a party to the ICC and does not recognise it’s authority.