Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to come to New York City notwithstanding Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s promise that he would arrest Mr. Netanyahu should the premier of the Jewish state appear at the five boroughs strikes us as the right response. Mr. Netanyahu made the vow while appearing via video at the Times’s Dealbook forum. “Yes, I’ll come to New York” is how Mr. Netanyahu put it.

Mr. Netanyahu struck the same note in July, before Mr. Mamdani’s election. Appearing alongside President Trump, Mr. Netanyahu reasoned that “There’s enough craziness in the world, but I guess it never ends. This is appalling, and it’s silly in many ways because it’s just not serious.” Mr. Trump chimed in that if Mr. Mamdani did manage to arrest Mr. Netanyahu, the president would “get him out.” Mr. Netanyahu speaks every year at the United Nations.

At a Thursday press conference Governor Kathy Hochul was asked about the pledge to arrest Mr. Netanyahu. She responded that “The New York City mayor does not have the power to do that.” That would be news to Mr. Mamdani, who has claimed his right to arrest Mr. Netanyahu on the basis of “international law.” He invoked that same dubious authority to partwise defend a mob braying ‘Death to the IDF” outside a synagogue.

Mr. Mamdani reasons that  “Being a city of international law means looking to uphold international law. That means upholding the warrants from the International Criminal Court.” Actually that would be unlawful, as America is not a signatory of the Rome Statute that is that dubious tribunal’s charter. Treaties of which America is a party are part of the “Supreme law of the land.” Mr. Mamdani, though, swears fealty to a code alien to American law.

We have written about how Mr. Mamdani’s affinity for “international law” conflicts with the oath he will swear on New Year’s Eve to “support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of New York, and the New York City Charter.” Mr. Netanyahu, in insisting that “of course” he would visit Gotham notwithstanding the threats of arrest, is, we reckon, making a vital point about American sovereignty. 

Dealbook’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Mr. Netanyahu if he would deign to speak to the Democratic Socialist who will shortly be sworn as mayor. Mr. Netanyahu responded that if Mr. Mamdani “changes his mind and says that we have the right to exist, that’ll be a good opening for a conversation.” Mr. Netanyahu was also asked about his ongoing criminal cases inside Israel, where he has asked President Isaac Herzog for a formal pardon.

Mr. Netanyahu declared that  “I’m supposed to spend three times a week, eight hours a week in that trial. And, you know, I’ve got a few other things to do. And I think history beckons.” We have supported a pardon for Mr. Netanyahu, who told Mr. Sorkin in respect of the question of retirement that “When history is within reach, you don’t step aside, you step forward, and that is what I am doing.”