Mamdani backs off pledge to arrest Netanyahu citing lack of authority. Image source, Getty ImagesByMadeline HalpertPublished22 July 2026, 17:29 BSTUpdated 2 minutes agoNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who previously pledged to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the city, now says he does not have the "authority" to do so.
Mamdani had previously said he was “in conversation” with city lawyers to determine whether his administration could arrest Netanyahu, as he had pledged to do during his mayoral campaign last year.
Details
Trump was responding to comments Mamdani made in an interview with the New York Times on Saturday, in which the mayor said he was having "an active conversation" with law enforcement about the possibility of enforcing the ICC arrest warrant.
In a video posted on social media, Mamdani instead called on US officials to act on the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister over alleged war crimes.
But on Tuesday, Mamdani said his team had reviewed "every avenue available" under the law, and concluded that "we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this".
Mamdani said in the social media video that Netanyahu was "not welcome" in New York City, where he is expected to travel in September for the UN General Assembly.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over alleged war crimes in Gaza, while also issuing an arrest warrant for a Hamas commander, according to the latest reporting on the story.
Available information indicates that During his campaign for New York City mayor, Mamdani repeatedly called Netanyahu a war criminal, and the war in Gaza a genocide.
He also said he would order police to arrest Netanyahu if he arrived in the city, in a development tied to the same story.
Separately, Technically, if Netanyahu set foot in an ICC member state, he could be arrested and handed over to the court - but the US is not a member of the ICC.
Statements
«arrested, in any way, shape or form»
«He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors [sic], and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others,»
Context
President Donald Trump has said Netanyahu would not be "arrested, in any way, shape or form" while in the US.
Wins and challenges: Zohran Mamdani's first 100 days in office, according to the latest reporting on the story.
Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, doubled down on his support for the international criminal court (ICC) on Wednesday and called on federal authorities to execute the court’s warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest should he visit the city in the fall.
In the statement, the mayor acknowledged he had no legal authority to direct New York police to arrest Netanyahu should he attend the United Nations general assembly in September.
Photograph: Erik Pendzich/ShutterstockZohran MamdaniMamdani says he can’t arrest Netanyahu as mayor and urges US to enforce ICC warrantMamdani admits he lacks power to arrest Israeli prime minister after saying he’s ‘not welcome’ in New York City.
The ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and the former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant in 2024, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including “starvation as a method of warfare, and … murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
Mamdani said he concluded his administration had no authority to execute the ICC arrest warrant, but shifted the burden on the Trump administration to do so, according to the latest reporting on the story.
Netanyahu had said in the past he was “not concerned” with Mamdani’s threat, and his office said in a statement last week that the mayor “appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East”.
What to watch next
Mamdani’s statements about Netanyahu were remarkable for a US municipal leader and a signal of how support for Palestinian rights remains a signature policy for him.
Simcha Eichenstein, a pro-Israel New York state assemblymember, had previously called on the state attorney general to review whether Mamdani’s comments about Netanyahu violated state law.
“I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani told the New York Times last week, referring to the city in the Netherlands that is home to the court.
His insistence that the US government arrest Netanyahu has been met with condemnation and ridicule from pro-Israel officials, according to the latest reporting on the story.
Available information indicates that Netanyahu “will not be arrested” on US soil the president said in a social media post earlier this week.
