By Enyichukwu Enemanna
US President Donald Trump on Monday vowed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested at UN Summit in New York, after the city’s new mayor, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was investigating the move.
Mamdani admitted he was unsure if he had the power to order police to detain a foreign leader but said he was discussing the matter with his legal team ahead of the UN General Assembly in September.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump said on social media. “He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The Hague-based International Criminal Court in 2024 said it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu was responsible for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Israel’s offensive in Gaza following the brutal October 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani told the New York Times on Saturday. “He’s a war criminal.”
Netanyahu’s office also dismissed Mamdani’s stance and said the ICC was a kangaroo court.
