President Donald Trump has said that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested if he travels through New York after Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that the controversial leader is a “war criminal” who “belongs in The Hague”.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024, accusing him of being “responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population” in Gaza.
He is also accused of “crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.” Netanyahu denies the claims and has called them “antisemitic”.
But Trump says that Netanyahu will not be arrested if he lands in the US.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday.
“He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others.
“The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!”
The ICC arrest warrant means Netanyahu is now an internationally wanted suspect and that the ICC’s 124 member states – including the UK – would be obliged to arrest him if they were to enter their territory.
Mayor Mamdani told The New York Times: “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague.
“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 last many years.”
He said that he is in an “active conversation” with New York’s law department about the the matter, as it is unclear whether he has the authority to order the New York police department (NYPD) to detain a foreign leader.
Mamdani later doubled down in comments to reporters on Monday saying: “If someone is charged with a warrant from the International Criminal Court for these types of crimes, that's something I believe should be honoured.
“We’re speaking about someone who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, and he’s the subject of the arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity, for war crimes, and he’s the architect of the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
“These are not facts of my personal assessment. They are facts of public record.”
Asked if he was serious about the arrest, he said: “100 per cent. Yes.” When questioned about Trump’s insistence that the Israeli leader would not be arrested, Mamdani said: “He has a warrant for war crimes. Trump may protect him. I won't.”
“The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis,” the Israeli prime minister wrote in a statement on X, calling the arrest warrant “bogus”.
The statement continued “Instead of backing Khan’s criminal behaviour, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York”, and hit out at the leader for “diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East”.
Separately, Netanyahu also faces a corruption trial in Israel but denies all claims against him.
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