Israel ambassador dismisses Mamdani threat to arrest Netanyahu in New York
Danon called Mamdani’s arrest threat "empty" at the U.N. as the mayor’s legal talk over Netanyahu’s visit pushed a city fight into international diplomacy.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations dismissed Zohran Mamdani’s threat to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu in New York as "empty," turning a clash over City Hall rhetoric into a dispute aired before the U.N. General Assembly. Danny Danon said the mayor’s warning was "political theater" and insisted Netanyahu would still speak.
Mamdani said on July 18 that his office was in an "active conversation" with legal advisers about whether Netanyahu could be arrested if he comes to New York for the U.N. General Assembly in September. The New York City mayor has also said Netanyahu "belongs in The Hague," tying his position to the International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued on November 21, 2024 for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in the Gaza war, including starvation as a method of warfare.
The confrontation reaches beyond local politics because Netanyahu is expected to visit New York for the annual gathering at United Nations headquarters, where city officials have little obvious authority over a sitting Israeli prime minister’s movements. One account said Danon stated Netanyahu was scheduled to address the assembly on either September 26 or 27, keeping the focus on a late-September appearance that could put the mayor’s comments back under a global spotlight.
The political blast radius widened after Netanyahu’s office slammed Mamdani’s remarks, while former prosecutors warned that trying to arrest the Israeli leader could backfire. Sen. John Fetterman added his own rebuke, saying Mamdani should "sit down" after floating the idea.
Mamdani had raised the prospect during his campaign for mayor, using the ICC warrant as the legal and moral foundation for his position. The renewed fight now centers on a narrower but consequential question: whether a New York mayor and the NYPD could do anything meaningful to act on an international warrant when a foreign head of government arrives in the city for the world’s most visible diplomatic forum.
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