Tel Aviv [Israel], July 20 : The Israeli Prime Minister's Office has strongly criticised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani following statements that his administration is examining legal avenues to detain the Israeli leader during his upcoming visit to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September.
The official response, issued on Sunday, dismissed the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu as "bogus" and labelled the international body a "kangaroo court" that possesses no jurisdiction over either Israel or the United States. The statement further alleged that former ICC prosecutor Karim Khan had initiated the warrant as a diversionary tactic to deflect from subsequent allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
In a sharp rebuke published on X, the Prime Minister's Office asserted that Mamdani was mimicking Khan's strategy by targeting Israel to obscure domestic governance issues within New York.
https://x.com/IsraeliPM/status/2078886297121497527?s=20
"Instead of backing Khan's criminal behaviour, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York," the official release stated, further claiming that the mayor was preoccupied with targeting "the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East."
The Israeli administration also mounted a defence of its ongoing operations in Gaza, asserting that the military had implemented "unprecedented wartime measures" aimed at reducing civilian casualties while combating Hamas, which it accused of deploying civilians as human shields.
The diplomatic friction intensified after Mamdani asserted to The New York Times that Netanyahu was a "war criminal" who "belongs in The Hague."
The New York City Mayor revealed that municipal officials are engaged in an "active conversation" with the city's Law Department to ascertain the exact scope of local legal authority should the Israeli Prime Minister arrive in the city.
"Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do," Mamdani stated, clarifying that his office is not attempting to legislate new local statutes to enforce the measure.
The legal dispute stems from arrest warrants issued by the ICC in November 2024 against Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict.
Israel has consistently denied the charges and challenged the court's legal standing. Furthermore, the United States remains a non-signatory to the Rome Statute, meaning Washington is under no international legal obligation to detain or extradite individuals sought by the ICC.