Mamdani says New York cannot arrest Netanyahu, urges federal action
Mamdani said New York lacked power to arrest Netanyahu on an ICC warrant, shifting the fight to Washington as the UN meeting neared.
Zohran Mamdani said New York City could not carry out an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and urged the federal government to act instead, as he weighed what city officials could do if the Israeli prime minister came to New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Mamdani said he was in an “active conversation” with New York City legal advisers about possible steps if Netanyahu visited. He also drew a hard line between City Hall and Washington, saying, “It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant. The federal government, however, does.” His earlier remarks had prompted him to say he would look into whether he could order Netanyahu’s arrest if the Israeli leader visited the city.
The comments landed in the middle of a broader clash over the court’s November 21, 2024 arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant. The International Criminal Court issued the warrants over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict after its Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected Israel’s jurisdiction challenges. Israel is not a member of the court, and the United States also does not recognize the ICC, making any attempt to enforce the warrant in New York a politically charged test of local limits and federal power.
Netanyahu’s office pushed back publicly against Mamdani’s comments, while Donald Trump said Netanyahu would not be arrested in the United States. U.S. diplomats also dismissed the idea of an arrest as unrealistic. Together, those reactions underscored the same legal divide Mamdani described: New York can talk to its lawyers about what it might do if Netanyahu appears, but it does not have the independent authority to execute an ICC warrant on its own.
That leaves the question in Washington’s hands. If Netanyahu traveled to New York while the warrant remained outstanding, the practical ability to act would depend on whether federal officials chose to engage with an order from The Hague, a step the United States has so far rejected in principle.
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