New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said this week he is reviewing whether his administration could arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if Netanyahu visits the city for the UN General Assembly in September, reviving a campaign pledge that has drawn sharp rebukes from the Trump administration.
In an interview published Saturday on the New York Times podcast, Mamdani said he believes Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague” and is a “war criminal” based on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in November 2024. He said he is in “an active conversation” with New York City’s law department about what steps might be possible.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do,” Mamdani said. “But we won’t be writing our own laws to that end.”
Mamdani made the same pledge during his successful 2025 mayoral campaign, telling the New York Times in September that year he would order the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu on war crime charges if the Israeli leader set foot in the city. He won election in November 2025 with 50.8 percent of the vote.
Legal and Political Barriers
The threat faces steep legal obstacles. The ICC, based in The Hague, issued the arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including “starvation as a method of warfare.” However, the United States is not a party to the ICC and does not recognize its authority.
US federal law makes it illegal for local government to cooperate with the court, and a separate federal statute prohibits imprisonment or obstruction of foreign officials, including heads of state. Legal experts have said Mamdani’s threat to arrest Netanyahu is baseless, according to the Times of Israel. New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated last year that “the New York City mayor does not have the power to do that.”
President Donald Trump moved to block any such action on Monday, declaring that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.” Trump’s administration has taken aggressive steps against the ICC, imposing sanctions on the court in February 2025 and ordering economic penalties against ICC officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed to “dismantle” the court, accusing it of “waging a war against our country.”
Netanyahu has brushed off Mamdani’s arrest threats. In a recent radio appearance, Netanyahu said he was not concerned and accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas—an allegation Mamdani has denied. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said Mamdani should be arrested instead, accusing him of failing to govern New York and of inciting hostility toward Israel.
Sources
- The Guardian — Mamdani’s Saturday podcast interview with the New York Times about reviewing arrest options and his statement about following existing law
- The Times of Israel — Mamdani’s quote about Netanyahu belonging in The Hague, his campaign pledge, and legal experts’ assessment that the threat is baseless
- Al Jazeera — Mamdani’s campaign pledge to arrest Netanyahu and his role as NYC mayor
- NewsNation — Trump’s July 20-21 statement that Netanyahu will not be arrested in the United States
- Al Jazeera — Trump’s declaration that Netanyahu will not be arrested and details of the Trump administration’s response
