Mamdani walks back pledge to arrest Netanyahu citing lack of authority - BBC

What the report says

BBC News reported that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has retreated from an earlier campaign pledge to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he came to the city. In a social media video, Mamdani said his team had examined legal options and concluded the city lacks independent authority to enforce the International Criminal Court warrant against Netanyahu.

Mamdani instead urged federal authorities to act, saying the US government has the relevant power and calling for Washington to join the ICC and carry out the warrant. The issue surfaced after Mamdani told the New York Times he was in active discussions with law enforcement about the warrant. Netanyahu is expected to be in New York in September for the UN General Assembly, according to the BBC report.

The ICC issued the warrant in 2024 over alleged war crimes in Gaza, and also issued a warrant for a Hamas commander. The United States is not a party to the ICC, meaning the court’s enforcement mechanisms do not apply in the same way they would in member states. President Donald Trump rejected the idea that Netanyahu could be arrested while in the US and defended the Israeli leader in a social media post.

The BBC framed the shift against a wider political backdrop in which Democratic voters’ views on US support for Israel appear to be changing. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, criticized Mamdani’s position, while Mamdani has continued to say Netanyahu is not welcome in New York.