US New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani said in an interview with the New York Times that his administration is still studying the possibility of arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he arrives in New York City to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September, as expected.

He added: "I think Prime Minister Netanyahu's place is The Hague," referring to the seat of the UN's International Court of Justice.

He continued: "He is a war criminal, and the International Criminal Court has indicted him. You will find this is a common opinion, given what his actions have caused over the past few years."

The mayor explained that he is not sure he has the legal authority to order the New York Police Department, which he oversees, to detain a foreign official like Netanyahu, and said he is having "serious conversations" with the city's legal department on the matter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset (AFP)

Mamdani added: "We will do what the law allows in New York City, but we will not make our own laws for this purpose."

During his campaign for New York City mayor last year, Mamdani told the newspaper that he would order the police department to arrest Netanyahu, who was also running for re-election in Israel.

At the time, he said he would enforce an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court due to Netanyahu's role in the Gaza war, which Mamdani and a United Nations commission described as genocide.

Netanyahu responded to Mamdani's threat of arrest in a recent radio appearance, saying he is not worried, and accused the mayor of supporting Hamas, and said during an interview this week with Sid Rosenberg, a local radio personality and constant critic of Mamdani: "I think he should look at who condemns and who praises. He condemns Israel, the only democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values."

He added that Mamdani "doesn't care" that "those who hate Jews and Israel ultimately hate America, and in fact, I think he secretly hates America."

The newspaper said Mamdani does not speak positively about Hamas when he criticizes Netanyahu, and denounced the October 7, 2023 attacks, and made his major concerns about Israel a central focus of his political identity, constantly raising the issue. Many of his close associates said he considers the liberation of Palestine to be one of the most pressing moral issues of his time.

Mamdani's views on Israel are no longer marginal in the Democratic Party; nearly half of Democratic House members voted this week to end US aid to Israel, which was not enough to pass the resolution, but enough to show a shift in the party's stance.

When asked about the political importance he gives to Israel, Mamdani said the war on Gaza was motivating voters across the country, including in a New York House election last month where his supported candidates won, and added: "It is hard to find a more bankrupt political approach than what our country has done with Gaza and Palestine."