New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration is looking into whether to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to visit the city in September for the United Nations General Assembly, the New York Times reported.
Mamdani made similar comments on Saturday's episode of The New York Times' The Interview podcast, echoing sentiments from his successful mayoral campaign last fall.
"I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague," Mamdani said, referring to the Dutch city that is home to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
"He is a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court. That opinion is shared by many, and solely because of the consequences of his actions over all these years."
Mamdani admitted that he was not sure whether he had the legal authority to order the New York City Police Department, which is under his command, to detain a foreign leader, Index reports.
However, he confirmed that he is discussing the issue with the city's legal department. "We will do everything that New York law allows us to do," Mamdani added. "But we will not write the laws ourselves for this purpose."
ICC indictments
The ICC's arrest warrant for Netanyahu and other Israeli officials charges them with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The charges include "starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution and other inhumane acts."
Mamdani, during his mayoral campaign, called the Israeli military actions in Gaza a genocide and Netanyahu a war criminal. In September 2025, he told The New York Times that he would order the police to arrest Netanyahu if he set foot in the city. At the same time, he condemned Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, calling them "a terrible war crime."
The Times quoted legal experts as saying that Netanyahu's arrest of Mamdani would be "virtually impossible." They also warned that such a move could put him in direct conflict with the US federal government. The United States is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction.
Donald Trump, at the start of his term in office in February 2025, ordered economic sanctions against the court and determined that it had no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel. Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently vowed to "dismantle" the court. He accused it of "waging war on our country, not with bullets or missiles," but "with the force of so-called international law."
Reactions from Israel and the US
Netanyahu, who faces a demanding re-election campaign in October, dismissed Mamdani's threats in a recent radio appearance. He said he was not worried. Netanyahu also said the mayor supports Hamas, a claim Mamdani denies.
"He is on the side of the terrorists," Netanyahu told New York's WABC. "I think the problem is that he doesn't recognize and he doesn't care that those who hate Jews and Israel end up hating America."
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon accused Mamdani - New York's first Muslim mayor - of failing to confront growing anti-Semitism in the city.
Mamdani responded to the accusations and said he had increased funding for the office that combats hate crimes. "Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to New York, proudly address the UN General Assembly and present the truth about Israel and its unwavering right to defend its citizens to the world," Danon said.
Trump's UN ambassador, Mike Walz, also dismissed Mamdani's threat as "pure political theater" and noted that the United States is not a member of the ICC.
World leaders are expected to travel to New York in September for the annual session of the UN General Assembly, an event Netanyahu has attended in previous years.
Broader political context
"This is not about Benjamin Netanyahu's personal assessment," Mamdani told the Times podcast. "We're talking about the International Criminal Court and the fact that there's an arrest warrant for that prime minister. I think it's important to talk about the gravity of that charge, but also that as mayor of New York, I will abide by the laws of New York."
Mamdani's comments on Saturday come at a time when his stance on Israel is no longer marginal within the Democratic Party.
Nearly half of Democrats in the US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to cut $3,3 billion in military aid to Israel. The measure failed to pass, but it showed a weakening of unconditional support for Israel. The shift is also reflected in public opinion polls.
When asked by The New York Times about the political importance of Israel and American support for the country, Mamdani said the war in Gaza was motivating voters across the country. He said this was evident in June, when candidates he supported won the New York House of Representatives elections. "It's hard to find a more failed policy than the one our country has pursued toward Gaza and Palestine," he concluded.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
