Mamdani admits he lacks power to arrest Netanyahu, after repeated pledges to do so

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday acknowledged that he cannot actually arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite his past pledges to do so.

Mamdani first made the pledge during his mayoral campaign more than a year ago, although legal experts said he did not have the authority to make the arrest.

The issue surfaced again this week when the New York Times asked Mamdani if he still planned to arrest Netanyahu, who visits New York each fall for the United Nations General Assembly.

Mamdani said he was holding an “active conversation with our legal department” over the question of arresting Netanyahu and will do what the law allows.

Mamdani finally acknowledged in a video statement posted to social media that he could not arrest Netanyahu.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” Mamdani said in the statement.

“He belongs before a court of law. As I’ve said, I agree with the [International Criminal Court] that Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested and tried for his crimes,” Mamdani said.

“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,” he said. “It is clear we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.”

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. pic.twitter.com/YRezmW6YVx

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2026

Despite Mamdani’s designation of Netanyahu as a war criminal, and his claims of genocide in Gaza, neither charge has been proven in any international court.

Mamdani has described New York as a “city of international law,” although international affairs are the exclusive purview of the federal government.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said in response to Mamdani’s Tuesday statement, “Enough with the blood libels.”

“You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas’s propaganda. Do your job,” Danon said.

International legal experts told The Times of Israel a year ago, while Mamdani was campaigning for mayor, that his vow to arrest Netanyahu was an empty threat.

Mamdani had cited the International Criminal Court 2024 arrest warrant as grounds for arresting Netanyahu. The court does not have the power to enforce arrests itself and relies on member states to carry out arrests so defendants can stand trial in the Hague.

The US and Israel are not parties to the court, so it has no jurisdiction in the US.

Also, US federal law prohibits municipal governments from cooperating with the court. The American Service-Members’ Protection Act, passed in 2002, bars local authorities from cooperating with the court or providing it support.

A separate federal law prohibits imprisonment, intimidation, harassment, threats and obstruction against foreign officials, including heads of state. Imprisonment of a foreign official can result in a fine and up to three years in prison.

Even if Mamdani wanted to put Netanyahu in cuffs for jaywalking, US law and international custom grant diplomatic immunity to members of foreign diplomatic missions, including visiting dignitaries, preventing them from being arrested or prosecuted for ordinary crimes like traffic violations.

The New York City mayor also does not have the executive power to make arrests, but relies on the NYPD, which cannot make illegal arrests or take acts that are prohibited by federal law.

Netanyahu would also need to be extradited to the Hague to stand trial, which would require the involvement of federal authorities, like the Department of Justice or the US Marshals.

US President Donald Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul had previously said that Mamdani could not arrest Netanyahu.

The Trump administration is also no fan of the ICC and sanctioned the court in February to penalize it for the arrest warrants it issued for Netanyahu and Israel’s former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Last week, the Trump administration launched an effort to “dismantle” the ICC over what it said was the threat the court poses to American sovereignty.