00:00Zoran Mamdani is not from California. He's the mayor of New York City.
00:03But Mamdani recently made a claim about international law that, if true, could affect California as well.
00:09Mamdani was explaining why he had reneged on a campaign promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
00:15when he visits New York City in the fall to address the United Nations.
00:19Mamdani called Netanyahu a war criminal. Set that aside for a moment.
00:22Netanyahu has been charged with war crimes by something called the International Criminal Court, or ICC.
00:28Israel says the charges are bogus, but Mamdani said that he would enforce the warrant against Netanyahu.
00:34Now he says he doesn't have the power as mayor to do that, but the federal government does have the
00:38power to do it.
00:38If that were true, that could mean that Netanyahu would face arrest if he visited California as well.
00:44And he does so fairly frequently. That's because Israel and Silicon Valley have rather close ties.
00:49There are many Israeli tech companies in Silicon Valley, and there are many American tech companies with offices in Tel
00:54Aviv.
00:55There are close economic ties between the Golden State and the Jewish State.
00:58So having Israeli leaders arrested when they visit California could disrupt those relationships.
01:03But Mamdani is wrong on the law.
01:05In 2001, shortly after the 9-11 terror attack, Congress passed something called the American Service Members Protection Act,
01:12which prevents any law enforcement agency in the United States, federal, state, or local, from enforcing ICC warrants.
01:18And it even prevents cooperation with the ICC, whether the ICC is targeting an American or someone from one of
01:25our allies, like Israel.
01:27It is illegal and impossible for the federal government to enforce the ICC warrant.
01:32And the reason Congress made it so was they were worried that American soldiers would be accused of bogus war
01:38crimes when fighting terrorists.
01:39And terrorists don't wear uniforms. They often hide among civilians.
01:43There are going to be civilian casualties in a war to defend your country against terror.
01:46Congress recognized that and therefore told the ICC to take a hike.
01:50So Mamdani is wrong.
01:52The federal government can't enforce an ICC warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu.
01:56And if he's wrong about that, maybe he's wrong about the war crimes as well.
Comments