Republicans push back as Mamdani mulls Netanyahu arrest during NYC visit

Republicans - including President Donald Trump - have sharply criticized Zohran Mamdani after the mayor said he was looking into legal pathways for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest if he visits New York City.

In an interview with The New York Times last week, Mamdani called Netanyahu a "war criminal" and said the city's legal department was looking at options for his arrest. The prime minister may attend the United Nations' General Assembly in September, just months away.

"We're not talking about a personal assessment of Benjamin Netanyahu," Mamdani said. "We're talking about the International Criminal Court and the fact that they have a warrant out for this prime minister's arrest."

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The ICC's warrant, issued in November 2024, accuses Netanyahu of war crimes and crimes against humanity as a result of Israel's military actions in Gaza, which has sparked international outrage.

But many Republicans rebuked the idea of his arrest - including the president himself.

In a post on Truth Social Monday, Trump said Netanyahu would "not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," but did not mention Mamdani specifically.

"He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others," he wrote. "The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!"

Mamdani has continuously criticized Netanyahu and Israel's military action in Gaza. But the United States does not recognize the court, and protections are in place for leaders who visit the UN's New York City headquarters.

The House Republicans X account pushed back on the comments by Mamdani.

"Mamdani is threatening to arrest the head of one of our closest allies," the account said.

"He should stop politicizing local law enforcement and interfering with US foreign policy and instead focus on rising rent and housing prices and antisemitism in NYC."

Republican Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, called Mamdani's statements "pure political theater."

"Mayor Mamdani: here’s why your threat to arrest PM Netanyahu’s in NYC during UNGA is not going to happen," he wrote on X.

"1. The U.S. is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the ICC, 2. The UN Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of gov’t, 3. head-of-state immunity applies, & 4. federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes."

In a statement posted to X on Sunday, July 19, the prime minister's office said "Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York."

But in his recent interview, Mamdani said he would follow the law regardless.

“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.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republicans push back as Mamdani mulls Netanyahu arrest during NYC visit