Fox Anchor Throws Down with Mamdani Over His Promise to Arrest Netanyahu: On ‘What Grounds?’

Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum pressed New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani on his stated desire to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, questioning the 33-year-old Democratic Socialist on “what grounds” he would arrest Netanyahu during an interview on Wednesday afternoon.

Mamdani, after failing to point out which American law he would arrest Netanyahu for violating, said he would “exhaust every legal option in front of me, not make new laws to do so.”

Their back and forth on the topic started with MacCallum asking Mamdani about his pledge to arrest the Israeli leader for being, in his estimation, a war criminal who has directed a “genocide” in Gaza — a claim that Mamdani made in The New York Times last month.

“Do you stand by that? You would arrest him if he came here if you were mayor?” MacCallum asked.

“I’ve said this is a city that believes international law, and this is a city that wants to uphold those beliefs,” Mamdani said.

“The United States doesn’t stand by the International Criminal Court,” MacCallum pointed out.

“It hasn’t signed the treaty for the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani conceded. “The International Criminal Court, however, has issued a warrant for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu—”

“But what grounds in the United States could you arrest him on?” MacCallum asked.

“As it has, for Vladimir Putin, I’ve said that I believe we should uphold arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court, and that we should do so, only in abiding with all of the laws in front of us. I’m not going to make a new law to ensure that we can actually do this,” Mamdani responded.

MacCallum then asked Mamdani if he believed NYC Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch would “go along” with his plan.

Mamdani said he “appreciated” the job Tisch has done, before saying he would “exhaust” all of his options to arrest Netanyahu.

That segment of the interview came a moment after Mamdani declined to give President Donald Trump credit for brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, saying it was “too early to do so.”

He also declined to say Hamas should disarm.

You can watch his answer on Netanyahu above, via Fox News.