Mayor Mamdani Abandons Promise to Arrest Netanyahu, Cites Legal Limits

New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who pledged to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he set foot in the city, has now said that she no longer has the authority to do so. The mayor’s statement was made in a short video posted to her social‑media accounts, where she urges United States officials to act on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Technically, if Netanyahu were to enter any ICC‑member state, the court could arrest him and hand him over to the tribunal. However, the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute that underpins the ICC, and therefore the court has no jurisdiction in the U.S. The move was, in part, a response to remarks by former President Donald Trump, who said on Truth Social that Netanyahu would not be “arrested, in any way, shape or form” while in America.

Mamdani received the Treasury‑Department’s warning that she “have every legal authority to enforce it” over a telephone call with a senior law‑enforcement official. Later, she tested the rumor by saying that her team had examined every possible legal avenue and concluded that “we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this.” She added that “the federal government, however, does.” The mayor then urged the federal government to join the ICC and execute the warrant.

Mamdani reminded her followers that Netanyahu is “not welcome” in New York City, where he is scheduled to attend the U.N. General Assembly in September. The International Criminal Court has already issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu in 2024 along with a Hamas commander, citing war crimes in Gaza. The mayor has long labeled the conflict a genocide and described Netanyahu as a war criminal.

The announcement comes amid a shift in Democratic voters’ perception of U.S. policy toward Israel. Recent polling indicates that 58% of Democrats now believe the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, up from 45% in 2024. The Israeli ambassador to the U.N. responded to the mayor’s interview saying, “You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas’ propaganda.”