New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly in September, but indicated he would not seek to rewrite existing laws to make that happen, according to The Times of Israel.
In an interview with The New York Times, cited by The Times of Israel, Mamdani reiterated his long-standing criticism of Netanyahu, who is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Israel rejects the allegations and disputes the ICC’s jurisdiction.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani said, according to the report.
However, he stressed that he would act only within the limits of existing law.
“I’ve also said that I will follow the laws that we have here in New York City because I believe that there is an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city,” he said.
When asked whether he would attempt to enforce the ICC warrant, Mamdani said, “Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end.”
According to The Times of Israel, Mamdani also revealed that his office was holding “an active conversation” with the city’s legal department to determine what legal options, if any, would be available should Netanyahu travel to New York.
The mayor had previously pledged during his campaign that the New York Police Department would enforce ICC arrest warrants against leaders wanted by the court, including Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Legal experts, however, have argued that such a move would have no legal basis because the United States is not a member of the ICC. The Times of Israel noted that US federal law bars cooperation with the court and separately protects foreign heads of state from arrest by local authorities. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has also said the city’s mayor does not have the authority to arrest Netanyahu.
Responding to Mamdani’s latest comments, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, accused the mayor of focusing on Israel instead of governing New York.
“Mamdani is failing to govern New York. Instead of focusing on his responsibilities as mayor and confronting the rising wave of antisemitism in his city, he has chosen to incite hostility and generate headlines by attacking the State of Israel,” Danon said, according to The Times of Israel.
Danon added that Netanyahu would attend the UN General Assembly and “stand before the world to state Israel’s truth,” while arguing that “if anyone should be arrested, it is NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani.”
The interview also touched on Mamdani’s broader views on the Israel-Gaza conflict and US policy in the region. He said future presidential candidates should acknowledge what he described as the consequences of Washington’s support for Israel and suggested he would only back former vice president Kamala Harris if she changed her stance on military assistance to Israel.
At the same time, Mamdani said he still believed in maintaining a broad Democratic coalition, adding that agreement on every issue, including Israel and Palestine, should not be a prerequisite for working together.