Mamdani walked back that threat last week, acknowledging he lacked the legal power to arrest Netanyahu on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, the world's top war-crimes court.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he planned to attend the UN General Assembly in New York City this autumn, despite the city's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, making threats to arrest him.Mamdani walked back that threat last week, acknowledging he lacked the legal power to arrest Netanyahu on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, the world's top war-crimes court. The Israeli leader told Fox News on Sunday that he was "not concerned" about Mamdani's previous pledge and accused the mayor of "fomenting hate"."He's supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers, Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone, but he's trying to turn one group against the other," Netanyahu said.Netanyahu referenced a pair of stabbings in New York on Thursday, in which a suspect stabbed a Jewish man and an Asian man just blocks apart.The suspect allegedly shouted the phrase "Allahu akbar" while committing the stabbings, according to police. He has been charged with hate crimes relating to each victim.Both men survived the attacks, which drew condemnations from the city's Jewish and Asian American leaders.In the aftermath, Netanyahu said Jewish New Yorkers were "afraid right now."The mayor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Mamdani, a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights, made his opposition to the Israeli military operation in Gaza a central plank of his campaign last year. In an address last week, he called Netanyahu a "war criminal."As part of that platform while campaigning, Mamdani promised to enforce a 2024 arrest warrant for Netanyahu from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which accused the prime minister of committing war crimes in Gaza.Israel has denied charges that it has committed war crimes in Gaza, and Netanyahu called the charges "bogus".The Israeli military entered Gaza after the Hamas-led attack in Israel on 7 October 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.Over 73,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, including more than 21,000 children, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.Last week, after the New York Times pressed Mamdani on his pledge to arrest Netanyahu, Mamdani said his administration had reviewed the law and found: "We do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant".Mamdani urged the federal government to arrest the prime minister, and said: "Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City."
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who previously pledged to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the city, now says he does not have the "authority" to do so.In a video posted on social media, Mamdani instead called on US officials to act on the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister over alleged war crimes. Technically, if Netanyahu set foot in an ICC member state, he could be arrested and handed over to the court - but the US is not a member of the ICC. President Donald Trump has said Netanyahu would not be "arrested, in any way, shape or form" while in the US."He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors [sic], and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday.Trump was responding to comments Mamdani made in an interview with the New York Times on Saturday, in which the mayor said he was having "an active conversation" with law enforcement about the possibility of enforcing the ICC arrest warrant.But on Tuesday, Mamdani said his team had reviewed "every avenue available" under the law, and concluded that "we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this"."The federal government, however, does," Mamdani stated. "And I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant."Mamdani said in the social media video that Netanyahu was "not welcome" in New York City, where he is expected to travel in September for the UN General Assembly.The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over alleged war crimes in Gaza, while also issuing an arrest warrant for a Hamas commander.The ICC has the authority to prosecute those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes on the territory of states party to the Rome Statute, its founding treaty. During his campaign for New York City mayor, Mamdani repeatedly called Netanyahu a war criminal, and the war in Gaza a genocide. He also said he would order police to arrest Netanyahu if he arrived in the city.Speaking then to the New York Times as a candidate, he said: "This is something that I intend to fulfill." He said that such an arrest would be honouring a warrant issued by the ICC.His remarks come as Democratic voters' support for Israel appears to be shifting, with a recent poll , externalsuggesting 58% of Democrats believe the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 45% in 2024. In response to Mamdani's interview, Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN said to the mayor: "You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas' propaganda."
Outrage across Italy’s political spectrum following death in Bologna likened to killing of George Floyd in 2020.Demonstrations have been held in the northern Italian city of Bologna after a Moroccan man died while being restrained by police.Hundreds rallied on Monday evening amid a fierce political row over the officers’ conduct. The death of Abderrahim Fakir on Sunday has drawn inevitable comparisons to the killing of George Floyd by United States police in Minneapolis in 2020.Demonstrators knelt with raised fists on Sunday, a gesture associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. Further protests, backed by the city’s mayor and major trade unions, were held on Monday evening.The 42-year-old Moroccan entrepreneur died when police detained him following reports of aggressive behaviour.Video of the incident, filmed by a local resident and widely shared online, has prompted demands from opposition figures for accountability. Leaders of the right-wing government have defended the officers involved.The video shows Fakir face down on the ground as two officers restrain him. He repeatedly calls out “help, help, that’s enough” before falling silent.Police then bind his ankles and only afterwards check his vital signs.According to media reports, officers had used pepper spray and held him down while trying to handcuff him after he reacted aggressively.“My brother had asked for help… and they killed him,” one of Fakir’s brothers told the Corriere Della Sera newspaper.Bologna prosecutors have opened an inquiry under a newly introduced legal procedure and requested bodycam video from the officers involved.The far-right Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, and other government allies have praised the officers’ conduct.Opposition figures have accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition of fostering a climate of hostility.Centre-left legislator Francesco Boccia warned against Italy adopting an “ICE model” of US policing.
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