SerpApi.Org
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani walked back his promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after months of doubling down on a campaign pledge to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant.
Mamdani said in a social media video Tuesday that he does not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu, but said the Israeli leader is not welcome in New York City ahead of his expected attendance at the annual United Nations General Assembly in September.
“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,” Mamdani said. “It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.”
The reversal comes days after Mamdani reiterated his intent to detain Netanyahu, even as he acknowledged a potential lack of legal authority in an interview with the New York Times.
That comment prompted a response from President Donald Trump, who has remained close to Netanyahu even as tensions over the ongoing war in Iran have strained their relationship. Trump said in a social media poston Monday that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form” while in the country.
In his video, Mamdani called on the Trump administration to arrest Netanyahu, noting it does have the legal authority to do so.
Mamdani’s promise to detain Netanyahu dates back to his 2025 mayoral campaign as part of his support for Palestinians amid Israel’s war with Hamas. Speaking then as a candidate, Mamdani told the New York Times last year he would direct the New York Police Department to enforce the ICC’s warrant, which accuses Netanyahu of being responsible for war crimes.
Mamdani has repeatedly labeled Netanyahu a war criminal and has called Israel’s occupation of Gaza a genocide.
The U.S. does not recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court, and legal experts had previously expressed skepticism that Mamdani could order local police to detain a foreign leader. Trump sought to sanction the ICC in response to its warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest.
In a Sunday statement responding to Mamdani, Netanyahu’s office said the mayor “appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.”
