New York (Somalia Today) – New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration was examining whether it could arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly in September, reviving a campaign pledge that faces major legal obstacles.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani told The New York Times programme “The Interview” this week.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” the democratic socialist mayor said.
“And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024, saying judges had found reasonable grounds to believe he bore criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution, in Gaza.
Netanyahu and Israel have rejected the allegations and challenged the court’s jurisdiction. The Israeli leader has not faced trial or been convicted by the tribunal.
Mamdani acknowledged that it remained unclear whether a New York mayor could order city police to detain a visiting foreign leader on the basis of an ICC warrant.
He said his administration was holding an “active conversation” with the city’s Law Department to determine what authority, if any, he possessed.
“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,” Mamdani said.
Legal hurdles
Any attempt to arrest Netanyahu would almost certainly trigger a confrontation with the US federal government.
The United States and Israel are not parties to the treaty that established the ICC, and Washington does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction over Netanyahu.
The federal government also controls foreign relations and largely determines how authorities treat visiting foreign leaders, sharply limiting the ability of local officials to act independently.
Netanyahu plans to attend the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level debate, which will run from September 22 to 28 at the world body’s headquarters in Manhattan.
During his mayoral campaign last year, Mamdani said he would direct the New York Police Department to honour the ICC warrant if Netanyahu entered the city.
Netanyahu dismissed the renewed threat during an interview with New York radio host Sid Rosenberg and accused Mamdani of siding with Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.
“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising,” Netanyahu said.
“He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values.”
“Who does he champion? Hamas,” Netanyahu added, accusing the Palestinian militant group of carrying out “the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust”.
The Israeli prime minister went further, claiming that Mamdani “secretly” hated the United States.
Gaza divide
Mamdani has repeatedly condemned the October 7 attack but has made Palestinian rights and fierce criticism of Israel’s military campaign central to his political identity.
He has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, a charge Israel strongly denies.
A United Nations independent commission of inquiry concluded in September 2025 that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli government rejected the finding as distorted and politically motivated.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said Netanyahu would still travel to New York and accused Mamdani of failing to address rising antisemitism in the city adequately.
“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.
Mamdani has rejected allegations that his criticism of Israel amounts to antisemitism.
His administration’s latest budget allocated $26 million annually to expand the city office responsible for preventing hate crimes, more than eight times its previous funding.
The dispute comes as Democratic support for Israel shows signs of weakening after nearly three years of war in Gaza.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives this week rejected an amendment seeking to eliminate $3.3 billion in annual US military aid to Israel by a vote of 314-104.
But 103 Democrats supported the measure, marking an unprecedented display of opposition to military assistance for a country long regarded as one of Washington’s closest Middle Eastern allies.
“It is hard to find a more bankrupt policy approach than what our country has done to Gaza and to Palestine,” Mamdani said.
