CNN legal analyst Elie Honig called out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday for saying he was looking at whether the city's authorities could arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits."So, Elie, give us a reality check here.Can Mamdani have Netanyahu arrested?" CNN's Brianna Keilar asked Honig."Absolutely not.
It is utterly ridiculous for the mayor of New York City to even suggest that he might have the authority to order the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu or any visiting foreign head of state.First of all, the Mayor of New York City has zero law enforcement authority.
He does not tell the Manhattan D.A., the NYPD, who to arrest, who to indict," Honig responded.Honig noted that the U.S.was not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and therefore the arrest warrant the ICC issued for Netanyahu has no impact here.MAMDANI’S ‘DERANGED’ ISRAEL TAKE RESURFACES AS HE TARGETS NETANYAHUMayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a rally in New York alongside 1199SEIU members and immigration advocates after the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration can revoke protections for Haitians and Syrians.
(Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)"Second of all, this warrant that we're talking about here was issued by the ICC, the International Criminal Court, which we are not signatories to here in the United States.So, that warrant, issued by the ICC, has zero legal effect here in the United States.
In fact, we have a federal law here in the U.S., passed 24 years ago, that says, if necessary, the president can send military troops to pull our people and our allies out of the ICC.So, that warrant has zero impact," he said.Honig added, "The Constitution is quite clear that the conduct of foreign diplomacy, foreign affairs, is entirely up to the federal government.
It's certainly not up to local and county governments in New York City or elsewhere.""So, I know the mayor is having his best lawyers look at this right now.Let me...