On September 21 local time, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an interview with CNN.
During the interview, Mamdani once again stated that he would judge Natiyahu as a "war criminal" and a planner of the terrible genocide suffered by the Palestinian people.
If the International Criminal Court (ICC) determines that someone should be arrested for violating these laws, then what qualifications do we have to say that anyone can disregard the law? I believe it's very clear: everyone must be held accountable.
In 2024, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu, charging him with crimes against humanity and war crimes ‘from at least October 8, 2023, until May 20, 2024’.
As early as during his tenure as mayor of New York City, Mamdani said that if Netanyahu visited New York, he would be arrested.
On July 18th this year, Mamdani reiterated that he is in discussions with relevant government departments regarding whether New York has the authority to arrest Netanyahu if he travels to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September.
A few days later, Mamdani stated again on July 21 that New York City has no authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, but he urged the U.S. federal government to execute the arrest order issued by the ICC against this Israeli leader.
