WATCH: NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani doubles down on vow to arrest Netanyahu in jaw-dropping claim

9

From Fox News: New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani reiterated this week that he would honor the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should the leader visit the city, a stance he first announced before winning office.

Mamdani’s made his remarks as outgoing Mayor Eric Adams met with Netanyahu and encouraged him to attend Mamdani’s upcoming inauguration, according to local reports.

During a live appearance on ABC7, Mamdani described NYC as a “city of international law” that would uphold the ICC’s 2024 arrest warrants, which accused Netanyahu of intentionally attacking civilians and using starvation as a method of warfare.

“I’ve said time and again that I believe this is a city of international law, and being a city of international law means looking to uphold international law,” he said. “And that means upholding the warrants from the International Criminal Court, whether they’re for Benjamin Netanyahu or Vladimir Putin.

“We are a global city, but what New Yorkers are looking for is consistency in the way we talk about our values and follow through with them,” he said. “That’s why these warrants from the International Criminal Court are worth fully exploring — every legal possibility to actually follow through on.”

Mamdani had brazenly made a similar declaration while speaking to Fox News host Martha MacCallum in October, ahead of the election. Mamdani said he would arrest Netanyahu if legally permitted, and sneered, “Unlike Donald Trump, I’m someone who looks to exist within the confines of the laws that we have. So, I will look to exhaust every legal possibility, not create my own laws, to do so.”

WATCH THIS:

Current NYC Mayor Eric Adams reacted to Mamdani’s claim, telling a reporter, “There is no police officer in the city of New York that is going to carry out that directive from the mayor…. and he knows that.”

Conservatives are blasting Mamdani for touting “international law” instead of U.S. laws, and pointing out that in the United States, US laws are to be upheld – not international law.

X user Greg Price declared, “This is one of the most insane things I’ve ever heard a politician say. Zohran Mamdani declares that New York is a “city of international law.” Last time I checked, I was pretty sure New York is an American city under U.S. law.”

Jeremy Carl, a senior fellow with the Claremont Institute, weighed in on the issue with some serious concerns:

Put aside your feelings about Netanyahu– maybe you love him or maybe you hate him– that’s not what’s important here.

This is a shocking statement from Mamdani, and is essentially a declaration of an insurrection against the U.S. government. And it seems like all of the folks on the left lecturing us about “rule of law” ought to be speaking out about it.

Mamdani said the same thing during the campaign, but people say all sorts of stupid things during campaigns. Now he’s saying it as the Mayor-elect of America’s largest city, which is something else entirely.

Let’s be clear about the facts here. The so-called “arrest warrants” for Netanyahu from the International Criminal Court (ICC) have no legal validity here. The United States is not a party ICC— we have never been a party to the ICC. Even the Biden administration denounced the ICC’s decision here, though even if they had loved it, it wouldn’t matter because, again, the U.S. is not a party to the ICC.

In fact, we’ve aggressively sanctioned the ICC and its officials under President Trump, just to make it clear that it’s not just do we not comply with it, we want to make sure nobody complies with it, because we do not consider it a legitimate entity, but a dangerous one for the rule of law. What Mamdani is proposing would be the same thing as if I, if I were mayor of Hutchinson, Kanas, happened to have a foreign head of state visiting the Kansas State Fair, and I arrested him and attempted to extradite him to another country solely under the legal authority of my office as mayor of Hutchinson. it’s not just wrong and dangerous, it’s insane.

Even if someone wanted to break U.S. law and arrest Netanyahu, the only one who under any sane theory of international law would be allowed to do so, is President Trump, as the head of our national government. And again, even he couldn’t do so, absent our being a party to the ICC. The idea that one could do so as a Mayor of a city would be considered preposterous if it weren’t so dangerous.

Mamdani must completely repudiate this position, one that puts him at war with the basic idea of rule of law and fundamentally positions him as in rebellion against the federal government.

New York City councilwoman Inna Vernikov, one of the few Republicans on the city council, reacted, “@ZohranKMamdani is a SCAM. The mayor of NYC has no legal authority to arrest a sitting prime minister. And when @netanyahu comes to NYC, Mamdani will become the laughing stock of this city.”

Vernikov has invited Netanyahu to come to New York City on January 1, the day Mamdani is sworn in, just to show him up.

READ MORE from Fox News.

Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp

The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

CLICK HERE FOR COMMENTS SECTION