NYPD can't arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes, Mayor Zohran Mamdani says

Colin Mixson, New York Daily News on Jul 22, 2026

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NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deserves to face justice for his alleged crimes against humanity — but New York City and the NYPD can’t make the arrest.

Speculation over whether Mamdani would enforce an International Criminal Court warrant when Netanyahu visited Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly in September ended Tuesday night when the mayor announced on social media that he does not have the authority to detain the Israeli leader.

“My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine if New York City could execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here,” Mamdani said on X. “It is clear we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.”

The mayor said that while local law enforcement lacks the authority to cuff the Israeli prime minister, “the federal government, however, does.”

“I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant,” said Mamdani, who added that Netanyahu is “not welcome in New York City.”

The mayor first indicated he was working with the city’s legal department to determine whether the NYPD could detain the Israeli leader in an interview with the New York Times on Saturday.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said on a New York Times show. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court 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.”

In announcing that New York City would not be bringing Netanyahu to justice, Mamdani detailed the Israeli leader’s crimes as what he called “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.”

“He is responsible for the killing of more than 73,000 people, for the maiming of tens of thousands of children, as those who survive undergo amputation without anesthesia,” Mamdani said on X.

Despite the mayor’s calls for federal intervention, President Donald Trump already announced on Monday that Netanyahu would be safe from arrest while on American soil.

“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump posted on his social media site. “The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.”

The U.S. is not a party in the International Criminal Court and does not recognize its authority, leading some legal experts to question whether Mamdani has the authority to order Netanyahu’s arrest.

Netanyahu has said he’s not worried about getting busted by the NYPD if he jets into the city for the UNGA, which takes place in the second half of September, and has denounced Mamdani as a supporter of the Hamas terror group.

His office derided the ICC order as a “bogus arrest warrant.”

“The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Some Israeli political analysts say the feud with Mamdani could give a domestic political boost to Netanyahu as he faces a likely tricky reelection fight sometime in the fall.

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