[Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”]
The Democratic Socialist — really, the Communist and Islamic supremacist — Zohran Mamdani, has reissued his threat that, if he is elected mayor of New York, and Benjamin Netanyahu should appear in the city, he would not hesitate to arrest him. More on Mamdani’s threat, and other unpleasant promises that he has made, can be found here: “Mamdani Promises to Violate International and Federal Law to Arrest Netanyahu,” by Daniel Pomerantz, Algemeiner, September 26, 2025:
Is New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani preparing to violate international law, as well as US Federal law?
It’s well known that the candidate has promised to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he justifies by saying that this will make New York “consistent with international law.”
The shocking truth is that doing so will actually violate the very laws and moral principles Mamdani claims to uphold.
In November of last year, in an absurd and politically motivated decision, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Some countries, such as the Netherlands, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovenia, Spain, and Canada, enthusiastically announced their intention to arrest the Israeli leaders if given the opportunity.
Others, such as Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Fran
Then-US President Joe Biden condemned the warrants as “outrageous,” while current President Donald Trump went even farther, slapping sanctions on the ICC.
This consistent bipartisan reaction should not be surprising: despite its misleading name, the International Criminal “Court” is not actually a court at all, but a political body, formed in 2002 by a treaty called the Rome Statute. Even as far back as the drafting of this treaty in the late 1990s, numerous countries, including the United States and Israel, concluded (correctly) that the Rome Statute would be eventually abused for political agendas, and therefore refused to sign.
Yet America went even farther: understanding that the ICC could be a dangerous political weapon, Congress passed a bipartisan law in 2002 called the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act (ASPA). The Act not only prohibits the United States and all American government bodies from cooperating with the ICC, but also calls on Washington to defend US service members and US allies against the ICC. Therefore, any attempt by the City of New York to enforce an ICC arrest warrant would be a direct violation of Federal law, and potentially subject to Federal prosecution.
Mamdani’s misguided promise to enforce a foreign treaty that does not even include the United States, would violate not only US Federal law, but international law as well….
Mamdani lacks the authority to arrest Netanyahu. That is strictly a matter for the federal government. He needs a refresher course in the U.S. Constitution.
Legal procedure aside, the accusation against Israel itself is preposterous: that the Jewish State is intentionally depriving Gaza’s residents of food and other basic needs as a weapon of war. In truth, Israel is delivering unprecedented quantities of food, medicine, humanitarian aid, vaccination campaigns, medical services and more — a reality that is confirmed by:
- Israeli data;
- A detailed and internationally peer reviewed academic study; and by
- RealityCheck and America’s Central Intelligence Agency, in a study which reveals that Gaza has among the fastest growing populations in the world, a reality which is inconsistent with claims of depravation….
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israel has facilitated the delivery of two million tons of food and other humanitarian aid. And just since May, the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has delivered 175 million meals to people in Gaza.
So why is candidate Mamdani promoting such a bizarre, immoral, and illegal political agenda?…
Why? Because he’s a True Believer in Islam, with a deep and abiding hatred of Israel, and Mamdani will stop at nothing to promote the former and harm the latter.
New Yorkers were asked about Mamdani’s calls for boycotting Israel, as well as his statements that many consider to be support for violence against Jews: over a third of New Yorkers, including almost 60% of likely Mamdani voters, said these statements will make them more likely to vote for him; over 40% declared those statements will make them “much more likely” to vote for him.
In other words, New Yorkers support Mamdani not in spite of his most disturbing, illegal, and antisemitic ideologies — but precisely because of them. Or in modern tech slang: it’s not a bug, it’s a feature: even when the feature violates US Federal law, international law, human morality, and basic common sense.
These results are horrifying. In New York, the city with the greatest Jewish population in the world, a third of voters support Mamdani not in spite of, but because of his anti-Israel stance, including his intention to enforce a boycott of Israel, beginning with ending all investments by the city in Israeli bonds and companies, his remarks denouncing Israel for “genocide,” and his apparent willingness to justify Hamas’ kidnapping of hostages. He has also called for the American government to restrict weapons sold to Israel. That is, he would render the Jewish state militarily vulnerable at the very moment when it is fighting a seven-front war for its very survival. He has refused to accept Israel’s own definition of itself as a “Jewish state.” Apparently he has no trouble with the 22 Arab states that define themselves as “Arab.” He has said that he would refuse to visit Israel as mayor. During the campaign, Mamdani declined to co-sponsor a resolution in the state assembly recognizing Israel’s independence because he disagreed with language stating that the country “continues to strive for peace.”
What is to be done? People, including many Jewish voters, have taken leave of their senses, or been brainwashed by the incessant media campaign against Israel, to support such a man. Perhaps the best one can hope for is that Mamdani will become the mayor, but will soon make such a complete mess of things that he will promptly lose popular support, and govern fitfully until he is finally put out of office in the next election, after which he can no doubt find employment as a talking head on Al Jazeera.