New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is sticking with his campaign positions – so why is everyone acting surprised?

In a video posted on July 21, Mamdani called on the federal government to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to his role in the Israel-Hamas war, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani stressed that he agreed with the International Criminal Court, which issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest in November 2024. In The New York Times on July 18, the mayor said his team was looking into whether New York law enforcement could arrest Israel's leader during his visit to the city in September for the United Nations General Assembly.

However, in the video, Mamdani stated that his administration does not have “the independent legal authority” to enforce it.

Realistically, Mamdani is calling for something that’s never going to happen. On July 20, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that Netanyahu would not be arrested “in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

But it’s still important that the mayor said it.

As a rising star in Democratic politics, what Mamdani says matters.........

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