New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he was reviewing whether his administration could arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if as expected the Israeli prime minister visits the city for the UN general assembly in September.

Mamdani’s comments on Saturday’s episode of the New York Times’s the Interview podcast echoed ones he had made to the publication as he successfully ran for mayor last fall.

“I believe that prime minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said, referring to the Dutch city that is home to the international criminal court, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 over alleged war crimes in Gaza. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the international criminal court, and what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these past many years.”

Mamdani said it was unclear to him whether he has the legal authority to order the New York police department (NYPD), which he oversees, to detain a foreign leader like Netanyahu. But he said he was in “an active conversation” with the city’s law department about the matter.

  • dastanktal@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    34
    ·
    2 days ago

    Stupid performative bullshit that doesn’t matter considering who his police commissioner is or did we forget that Tisch is a well known Zionist with ties to both Israel and Netanyahu.

    Purely performance politics. Its a show and yall are falling for it

    • SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      Even a baby-step in the right direction is the right direction and a step.

      • dastanktal@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        17
        ·
        2 days ago

        So tell me again how this mayor who can only command the police force to arrest somebody is going to arrest someone without that police force. How exactly is this a step in the right direction and not bold-faced liberal propaganda designed to make Madamni look good without lifting a finger?

        • SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          11
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 days ago

          Who said Madamni was TRYING to look good?

          What people need to see is enforcement of laws that are already on the books.

          If the police won’t enforce the existing laws then we need POLICE REFORM. That’s what he CAN do.

          A baby step in the right direction.

      • dastanktal@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        18
        ·
        2 days ago

        Yeah, can’t wait to see how he’s going to arrest Netanyahu, who already gave his speech at the U.N. Assembly, by the way, without a police force that’s willing to arrest him Since you know he’s a mayor and that’s about all the power he has.

        Of course all I’m doing is being pragmatic and pointing out how this is literally a piece of liberal propaganda that is not going to amount to anything. It’s performative bullshit. It’s not even baby steps. He might as well have said he has thoughts and prayers for Netanyahu facing justice. Would have accomplished the same fucking thing, namely good press and absolutely no action.

          • dastanktal@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            22
            ·
            2 days ago

            Thanks for contributing bs liberal propaganda to the Lemisphere. Really appreciate it, making it feel more like reddit.

            You have a good one yourself.

    • OwOarchist@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      considering who his police commissioner is

      Can the mayor fire and replace the police commissioner?

    • SpookyBogMonster@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      2 days ago

      Arresting Netanyahu is objectively far more materiality significant than keeping Tisch as police commissioner.

      I don’t like that he kept Tisch, but let’s not pretend like she’s more powerful than the literal Prime Minister of Israel