NEW YORK: Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, doubled down this week on his campaign pledge to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he visits the city — a vow that has ignited legal debate and political uproar.
In an interview with The New York Times on Thursday, Mamdani said he would instruct the New York Police Department to detain Netanyahu at the airport, citing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this year. The warrant accuses the Israeli leader of war crimes in Gaza amid a war that has claimed over 60,000 Palestinian lives, according to local health authorities.
“This is something that I intend to fulfill,” Mamdani said. “It is my desire to ensure that this be a city that stands up for international law.”
Mamdani, a progressive state assemblyman and vocal critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, is currently leading in the polls ahead of the November election. He likened his approach to that of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who as mayor of San Francisco in 2004 defied federal law to issue same-sex marriage licenses. “This is a moment when cities and states will have to demonstrate what it actually looks like to stand up for our own values,” he said.
Mamdani also vowed to arrest Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, who is similarly wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The proposal has raised concerns among Jewish leaders in New York, home to the second-largest Jewish population in the world. While polling indicates growing sympathy among New Yorkers for Palestinians, Mamdani’s rhetoric — including his past refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” — has alarmed some moderate and pro-Israel Democrats.
Mamdani said he would no longer promote the use of the phrase, though he has not disavowed his criticism of Netanyahu. “We cannot look to the federal government for leadership,” he said, framing his position as a moral stand.
The Israeli government has not responded officially to Mamdani’s remarks. In July, Netanyahu reportedly dismissed the threat, and the Consulate General of Israel in New York declined to comment.
The Biden administration has previously condemned the ICC warrant against Netanyahu, with former President Trump having sanctioned the court in retaliation. Federal law, experts say, would likely override any local attempt to detain a foreign head of state on U.S. soil.
Nonetheless, Mamdani’s stance has galvanized support from some on the left who see the mayoral race as a referendum on U.S. complicity in global human rights violations. But the strategy could backfire in a city still deeply connected — culturally, politically, and economically — to Israel.
