President Donald Trump declared on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested on US soil, an assurance that came after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration was considering whether it could arrest the Israeli leader if he visited the city.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Netanyahu is fighting Iran and that “the only ones that should be arrested” are Iran’s leaders.
The statement followed remarks by Mamdani, who took office in January, in an interview published Saturday that the city’s Law Department is actively considering what the law might allow. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani told the New York Times Magazine.
Mamdani had campaigned on a pledge to have police arrest Netanyahu if he entered New York City. Netanyahu traditionally travels to New York every September for the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
The ICC Warrant and US Non-Membership
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Netanyahu and his then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza war. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes.
However, the US is not a member state of the ICC and has never ratified the Rome Statute, the court’s founding treaty. President Bill Clinton signed the statute in 2000, but he never submitted it to the Senate. The George W. Bush administration formally notified the UN in 2002 that the US did not intend to become a party to the court, contending this released Washington from any obligation to honor the agreement.
ICC member states have a duty to arrest and surrender suspects to the court. Since the US is not a member, it has no legal obligation to enforce the warrant. Additionally, customary international law grants sitting heads of government personal immunity from prosecution abroad—a principle the International Court of Justice affirmed in a 2002 ruling. US courts defer heavily to the executive branch on foreign policy matters, and harassing foreign officials is a federal crime.
Trump’s declaration restates longstanding US policy, but it lands amid a broader assault on the court’s authority. In February 2025, Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC in response to its November 2024 decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, citing alleged crimes against humanity. Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined what the State Department called a whole-of-government campaign to disable the ICC, saying Washington would dismantle the court “brick by brick” if necessary.
Mamdani has not specified what legal theory New York City might invoke to arrest Netanyahu. In his weekend interview, he said: “I will follow the laws that we have here in New York City because I believe that there is an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city.” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz called Mamdani’s position “pure political theater,” citing federal jurisdiction over foreign policy and the immunity protections that apply to sitting heads of government.
Sources
- Reuters — Trump’s statement on Netanyahu’s arrest, Mamdani’s comments, and the ICC warrant background
- JURIST — Trump’s declaration and analysis of US policy toward the ICC; details on the Rome Statute and US non-membership
- The New York Times — Mamdani’s interview and his position on Netanyahu’s arrest
- ABC7 New York — Mamdani’s doubling down on his arrest threat
- The Guardian — Mamdani reviewing whether his administration could arrest Netanyahu
