Robert Hornak
Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail. com and @roberthornak on X.
In the entire history of our country, one principal has stood the test of time and help sustain our democracy, regardless of who has been in power or the agenda they advocate – that all our lead- ers will work to enforce the laws as they have been written and voted on.
That can no longer be said about many of the Democrats in NY these days, and especially for Assemblyman and mayoral front- runner Zohran Mamdani.
What started as a small rebellion with issues like marijuana legalization – which is still a Schedule 1 drug illegal to use recreationally has snowballed into an agenda that few people can be- lieve is actually real.
But, unlike the movement to legalize marijuana, the far Left wants to childishly ignore all the laws they don’t like, or in some cases make up ones that don’t exist. They’re going to have their way no matter what, even if we send them to bed without dinner.
Mamdani has signaled just that on many issues. You want to convict criminals for breaking the law? He plans to close jails like Riker’s Island. You want to get prostitution out of your neighborhood? He will tell the cops not to make those arrests. Don’t like illegal aliens adding to the disorder and lawlessness your neighborhood? He will do everything to stymie the Feds from enforcing legitimate immigration laws.
But nowhere has Mamdani exposed his childish approach to governing more so than his ream- plified promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he should come to NYC.
Mamdani’s disdain of Israel is well documented and the accusations that he’s an antisemite seem credible to some.
But a promise to have the leader of an allied nation arrested by the NYPD and turned over to an international body that the U.S. doesn’t recognize crosses over to the delusional.
Mamdani clearly has taken the old saying that NYC is the only city with its own foreign policy way too literally. Just last week, in an interview with the NY Times, Mamdani, who has been trying to downplay many of his positions that some Jewish voters find offensive, doubled down on this, declaring that “This is something that I intend to fulfill.”
The International Criminal Court, which the U.S does not recognize – whether in republican or democrat administrations – wants to prosecute Netanyahu as a war criminal, which comes as a surprise to nobody.
Mamdani’s belief that as mayor he can arrest a head of state un- der these circumstances is more than shocking. He stated, “It is my desire to ensure that this be a city that stands up for international law.”
He intends to follow what he believes to be real international law while ignoring every federal law and treaty that applies here. Not to mention that he will be instructing the NYPD to illegally take into custody the head of state of an allied nation who has diplomatic and head of state immunity and will have both Israel and U.S. secret service protection. That is not a standoff any mayor should risk or even threaten.
This is not remotely similar to decriminalizing marijuana or is- suing licenses for same sex marriages, which Mamdani likes to invoke as a similar defiance of federal law. This is the kind of ac- tion that when it goes wrong, and it can only go wrong, starts wars.
And while Mamdani has made many promises he likely can’t keep, this is one that there is no possibility he will be able to successfully achieve. NYC is a part of the United States and subject to ALL federal laws, especially those
that pertain to foreign affairs that is exclusively the purview of the Federal Government. This will not be the minor rebellion we have allowed the kids to get away with in the past and chest thump- ing by Mamdani here shows an immaturity that will not serve him well as mayor.
