Mamdani backs off pledge to arrest Netanyahu citing lack of authority

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who previously pledged to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the city, now says he does not have the "authority" to do so.In a video posted on social media, Mamdani instead called on US officials to act on the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister over alleged war crimes. Technically, if Netanyahu set foot in an ICC member state, he could be arrested and handed over to the court - but the US is not a member of the ICC. President Donald Trump has said Netanyahu would not be "arrested, in any way, shape or form" while in the US."He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors [sic], and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday.Trump was responding to comments Mamdani made in an interview with the New York Times on Saturday, in which the mayor said he was having "an active conversation" with law enforcement about the possibility of enforcing the ICC arrest warrant.But on Tuesday, Mamdani said his team had reviewed "every avenue available" under the law, and concluded that "we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this"."The federal government, however, does," Mamdani stated. "And I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant."