Mamdani says New York doesn't have authority to arrest Netanyahu, urges feds to act

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who pledged repeatedly during his mayoral campaign to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Tuesday that he does not have the power to do so.

In a video posted on X, Mamdani said his administration had reviewed “every avenue available” under the law to determine whether New York authorities have the power to execute an arrest warrant if Netanyahu travels there. But, they concluded, “it is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this.”

He described Netanyahu as the “architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people” for his role in the war in the Gaza Strip and has said he should be tried for war crimes under a 2024 warrant by the International Criminal Court.

Mamdani called on the federal government — which does have the legal authority to enforce the ICC’s warrant — to arrest Netanyahu, who is expected to travel to New York in September for the United Nations General Assembly.

President Donald Trump shut down the idea of Netanyahu’s arrest in a Monday post on Truth Social, saying the Israeli prime minister “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024, accusing him and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The court’s decision obliges 124 countries to arrest the Netanyahu if he enters their territory, but neither Israel nor the United States is a signatory to the court’s key statute that requires this.

Netanyahu has rejected the allegations, calling them absurd, and accused the court of being a biased and discriminatory political body. On Tuesday his office described the ICC as a “kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis” and the arrest warrant as “bogus.”

“Under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership, Israel has taken unprecedented wartime measures to minimize harm to civilians while confronting Hamas,” it said.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also hit back at Mamdani’s comments. “Zohran Mamdani, ENOUGH,” he wrote on X. “Enough with the attacks on Jewish organizations. Enough with the outreach to the Iranian regime. You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas’ propaganda. Do your job!” he wrote.

Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have criticized the ICC for the warrant. Both administrations have supported Netanyahu during the war in Gaza, which Israel launched after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas militants, who killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.

Israel’s retaliatory strikes have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says the majority of casualties are women and children.

Mamdani’s continued opposition to Netanyahu comes despite criticism from some Democrats after he said last week that he was in “active conversation” with his legal department to determine whether the Israeli leader could be arrested.

The mayor’s stance also underscores a shift in the Democratic Party that has seen some members show a greater willingness to criticize Israel or turn U.S. support into a campaign issue. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month found while most Americans say the U.S. should reduce or end military support for Israel, the figure rises to 74 percent among Democrats.

Soroka reported from Tel Aviv.