Mamdani dodges on ‘political theater’ of empty Netanyahu arrest threat, calls for US action and NYC protests

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani declined Wednesday to say when he learned the city had no authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after repeatedly campaigning on a promise to detain the Israeli leader if he came to New York.

Pressed over whether the now-abandoned arrest threat amounted to "political theater," Mamdani said his administration had reviewed the applicable laws and concluded that only the federal government could execute the International Criminal Court warrant.

"It’s clear that the city does not have the authority to execute this warrant," Mamdani admitted at a New York City Hall news conference Wednesday, urging the federal government to act on the ICC warrant even though the U.S. is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction in the U.S. or over Israel, which is also not a member.

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