Mamdani says he can't arrest Netanyahu as mayor and urges US to enforce ICC warrant

Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, doubled down on his support for the international criminal court (ICC) on Wednesday and called on federal authorities to execute the court's warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest should he visit the city in the fall.

"I call on the federal government to join the international criminal court and to execute both this warrant as well as any warrant the international criminal court holds," Mamdani told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

Those remarks came less than 24 hours after Mamdani called the Israeli prime minister a "war criminal" who is "not welcome in New York City" in a video statement posted on social media. In the statement, the mayor acknowledged he had no legal authority to direct New York police to arrest Netanyahu should he attend the United Nations general assembly in September.

Mamdani had previously said he was "in conversation" with city lawyers to determine whether his administration could arrest Netanyahu, as he had pledged to do during his mayoral campaign last year.

On Wednesday, Mamdani rejected arguments from critics that Israel's war crimes in Gaza have nothing to do with New York City.

"It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant," he said in Tuesday's statement. "The federal government, however, does -- and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant."