Pakistan, July 19 -- The prospect of New York police arresting Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrives for the UN General Assembly is, for now, more political provocation than executable policy. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has acknowledged as much. He says his administration is consulting the city's Law Department, does not yet know whether he possesses the authority to order such a detention, and will act only within existing law.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister in November 2024, finding reasonable grounds to believe he bore criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including starvation as a method of warfare.

These remain allegations, not conviction...