Zohran Mamdani, the New York City Mayor, has urged US federal authorities to enforce the ICC arrest warrant if the Israeli Prime Minister visits the US later this year.
In a video posted to social media, Mamdani asserted that Netanyahu is “a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” responsible for the “killing of 73,000 people, for the maiming of tens of thousands of children, as those who survive undergo amputation without anaesthesia.”
“For the countless people he starved as he blocked food and humanitarian aid from reaching them. For the gunning down of hundreds of aid workers and journalists. And just last month, the UN confirmed that the Palestinian children continue to be deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli armed forces, more than 8 months after the so-called ceasefire. The list goes on and on. All as we, as Americans, pay for the bombs that do the killing.”
Zohran Mamdani
Additionally, Mamdani said that he believed the International Criminal Court warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest over alleged war crimes was justified, but admitted he lacked the legal authority to enforce it.
“My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the international criminal court’s arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here. It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.
“The federal government, however, does – and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant. And I want to be equally clear: Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large.”
Zohran Mamdani
In 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the Gaza war. At the time, the court had expressed there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. These charges were later denied by Israeli officials.
Netanyahu is expected to travel to New York in September for the UN General Assembly. The US does not recognize the ICC’s authority and is not a party to it.
Last week, Mamdani said that he was reviewing whether he would be able to arrest Netanyahu during that visit, after pledging to do so during his mayoral campaign last year. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said in reference to the Dutch city where the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024, is located.
To this, Mike Waltz, US Ambassador to the United Nations, said on Saturday that Mamdani’s threat to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested during the UN General Assembly is “pure political theater.” “Mayor Mamdani. Here’s why your threat to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu’s in New York City during UN General Assembly is not going to happen,” the US envoy stated.
US President Donald Trump has insisted that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”
“He [Netanyahu] is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others.
“The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!”
Donald Trump
Israeli Ambassador To UN Slams Mamdani’s Post
The Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, slammed Mamdani’s post by telling the NYC Mayor “enough.” “You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas’ propaganda,” he said over a statement online, asking him to “Do your job!”
Last week, Danon accused Mamdani of failing to focus adequately on rising antisemitism in New York City. “Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride, and stand before the world to state Israel’s truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens,” Danon said in a statement.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, said said he was “not concerned” about Mamdani’s comments. He has also accused the Mayor of supporting Hamas. During a radio appearance, Netanyahu intensified his attack on Mamdani.
“He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values. Who does he champion? Hamas, that calls openly to massacre every Jew on earth, that conducted that horrible massacre, the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
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