New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants everyone to believe he's holding all the legal cards this September, threatening to have the NYPD slap handcuffs on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the moment he sets foot in Manhattan. The problem is that he can’t.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz wasted no time shredding Mamdani's threat, making clear the mayor has no power to detain a foreign head of government protected under longstanding international agreements.
"Mayor Mamdani. Here's why your threat to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu in New York City during UN General Assembly is not going to happen," Waltz said.
Waltz then walked through exactly why Mamdani's fantasy falls apart. "The United States is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the International Criminal Court. The UN Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of government. Head-of-state immunity applies, and federal authority trumps any local mayor's wishes," he said.
So, contrary to Mamdani’s ego and rabid antisemitism, a big-city mayor doesn't get to override federal law, international treaties, and diplomatic immunity because he dislikes a foreign leader's foreign policy.
Netanyahu is expected to visit New York in early September for the UN General Assembly, and Israeli officials are just as unimpressed with Mamdani's posturing as their American counterparts. Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, turned the tables on Mamdani entirely.
"If anyone should be arrested, it is New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani," Danon said.
Danon didn't stop there, accusing Mamdani of abandoning his actual job to chase headlines at Israel's expense. "Mamdani is failing to govern New York. Instead of focusing on his responsibilities as mayor and confronting the rising wave of antisemitism in his city, he has chosen to incite hostility and generate headlines by attacking the State of Israel," Danon said.
ICYMI: Sunny Hostin Blasted Privilege for Years, Then Got Caught Using Her Own
Danon made clear none of Mamdani's chest-thumping changes anything. "It will not change a thing. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride and stand before the world to state Israel's truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens," he said.
Mamdani isn't backing down, even though he admits he might not have the authority to do what he's promising. He told The New York Times his administration is still examining whether New York City has any legal basis to detain Netanyahu at all.
"I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague," Mamdani said, echoing the same talking point he leaned on throughout his mayoral campaign.
He went further, calling Netanyahu "a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court," and claiming that view is shared by "many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years."
Mamdani admitted he doesn't actually know if he can order the NYPD to arrest a foreign head of government, saying he's "in an active conversation" with the city's Law Department. He insisted, though, that he wouldn't invent new legal authority out of thin air. "Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do, but we won't be writing our own laws to that end," Mamdani said.
How noble of him.
Netanyahu has brushed off Mamdani's threats before and shown no sign of altering his travel plans. He's also accused Mamdani of siding with Hamas, the terrorist group whose October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel started the war Mamdani keeps invoking to justify his crusade.
Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.
Help us continue to report on his radical policies and expose the Democrats who support him. Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member