President Donald Trump said he would intervene if New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani attempted to have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested during a visit.
“It’s inappropriate,” Trump said when asked about Mamdani’s statement.
When pressed on whether he would intervene in such a scenario, the president responded, “Yeah, I would.”
Mamdani told the New York Times he would order the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu, citing the International Criminal Court’s 2024 warrant.
Mamdani says he would arrest Netanyahu
“As mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu,” Mamdani said to former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan in December. “This is a city that our values are in line with international law.”
He made the same statement in July at B’nai Jeshurun, a large synagogue in Manhattan.
“My answer is the same whether we are speaking about Vladimir Putin or Netanyahu,” he said. “I think that this should be a city that is in compliance with international law.”
The International Criminal Court, headquartered in the Hague, issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, along with former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant and assassinated Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, in November, accusing him of war crimes.
Given that the United States is not a member of the ICC, it would be highly unlikely that the mayor of New York would be able to arrest Netanyahu.
Gabe Friedman contributed to this article.