Mayor of Arab-American capital says his city will abide by ICC warrant and arrest Netanyahu

The mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the US, has said that local police would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he stepped foot in the city. 

Abdullah Hammoud shared his statement on X shortly after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, Mohammed al-Deif. 

The Israelis and Deif are accused of a range of war crimes and crimes against humanity over atrocities committed since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 and Israel's resulting war on Gaza.

The US is not beholden to the ICC because it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, a treaty that established the court in 1998. There are 124 countries that are state parties to the Rome Statute, including Canada, the UK, and the European Union. 

“Dearborn will arrest Netanyahu & Gallant if they step within Dearborn city limits,” Hammoud wrote.  

“Other cities should declare the same. Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure Netanyahu & other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States.”

While the scenario is highly unlikely, local police have to hand over any high-profile state actors to federal authorities anyway, and they would defer to US rather than international law. 

Hammoud’s post was met with hundreds of responses from those threatening to report him, have his citizenship revoked - per the incoming Trump administration’s pledges - and deport him for his message. 

“You’re in our country, we are not in yours. Try and remember that,” one person wrote.  

Welcomed decision

Arab-American organisations and advocacy groups lauded Thursday’s somewhat surprising announcement that the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, followed through on his intent to seek the warrants.

The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee called the warrants “a critical step toward accountability for grave violations of international law”.

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“These warrants are not political, nor are they antisemitic - they are a direct response to well-documented, independent investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the statement said. 

American Muslims for Palestine, a major player in the Palestine solidarity movement, said the warrants have been “long-awaited”.

"This is a monumental moment in the pursuit of justice for Palestinians," the group’s executive director, Dr Osama Abu Irshaid, said in a statement. "The ICC’s action underscores the global community’s recognition that Israel's apartheid policies, illegal blockade, and systemic oppression of Palestinians are not above the law."

In its statement, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, said it had rejected Israel's appeals challenging its jurisdiction. 

The chamber said the arrest warrants are classified as "secret" but that it has decided to release them because "conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing", referring to Israel's ongoing onslaught on Gaza and the continued detention of Israeli captives by Hamas. 

"Moreover, the chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence," it said. 

All 124 states that ratified the Rome Statute are now obligated to arrest the wanted individuals and hand them over to the ICC in the Hague. A trial cannot commence in absentia.

However, the court does not have enforcement powers. It relies on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects. France and the Netherlands said they were prepared to enforce the warrants.