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President Donald Trump rejected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s threat to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—before the mayor instead called on federal authorities to do so—should the prime minister visit the city later this year.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump responded in a post on Truth Social Monday. “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!”
Trump’s message comes as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations accused Mamdani of engaging in “political theater” over his threat to Netanyahu.
Mamdani had said he was exploring options to arrest Netanyahu during his scheduled visit to New York for the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly in September. In an interview with The New York Times, Mamdani said he was in “active conversation” with the city’s legal offices regarding his authority to do so, and said: “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.”
In an updated video post to X on Tuesday, the city’s mayor said “It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.” He added in part that the federal government does have the authority and he called on them to execute the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large. While we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon,” Mamdani added.
Former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman reacted to Mamdani’s video on Tuesday, saying, “This may be the most horrific package of lies against the State of Israel ever promoted by a government official. Even Hamas does not lie to this extent! It is despicable and entirely unbecoming a mayor of New York City. To those who voted for this Jew-hater, shame on you.” Friedman was nominated by Trump and served from 2017 to 2021.
In response to his earlier comments, Mike Waltz—the nation’s top envoy to the international organization—took to X to call Mamdani’s remarks “pure political theater,” arguing that the mayor lacks the legal authority to take such action under both international and U.S. law.
Newsweek has contacted the offices of the New York City mayor and Israeli prime minister for comment via email.
Waltz Says Arrest Impossible
World leaders from most member states will travel to New York City in September for the U.N. General Assembly, and the Israeli leader is expected to appear and address the body’s annual session.
But Waltz, who served as U.S. national security adviser before being fired in May 2025 in the wake of the “Signalgate” scandal, said that any attempt by Mamdani to arrest Netanyahu would likely fail for a number of reasons.
These include the fact that the U.S. never ratified the Rome Statute—the treaty that established the ICC in 1998—and is, therefore, not subject to its jurisdiction or obliged to assist in enforcing its judgments.
Waltz also cited the notion of head-of-state immunity and the U.N. Headquarters Agreement—which governs the legal status of the organization’s New York headquarters and provides legal protections to foreign diplomats and officials attending U.N. meetings.
Why Does Mamdani Want to Arrest Netanyahu?
Mamdani’s wish to arrest the Israeli premier stems from a warrant issued in November 2024 by the ICC—a permanent international tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands, which investigates and prosecutes people accused of the most serious offenses.
The warrant stems followed an investigation by the ICC into the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, after which judges found there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu, alongside former Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, bore responsibility for several alleged crimes including starvation as a method of warfare and directing attacks against a civilian population.
During his campaign for mayor, Mamdani said he would honor the ICC warrant if elected, and arrest Netanyahu as soon as he set foot in New York.
Netanyahu said he still planned on visiting New York despite Mamdani’s remarks during a virtual interview with The New York Times’ Dealbook Summit in December.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani told The New York Times in an interview released on Saturday. “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.”
Trump and Netanyahu’s Relationship: What to Know
Trump and Netanyahu have shared one of the closest political relationships between a U.S. president and Israeli prime minister in recent decades. During Trump’s first term, the two leaders aligned on major policy priorities, including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the U.S. Embassy there, and Trump even helped broker the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states. Netanyahu frequently praised Trump for what he described as unprecedented support for Israel.
Despite their close alliance, the relationship has experienced moments of tension. Trump publicly criticized Netanyahu after the Israeli leader congratulated former President Joe Biden on his 2020 election victory, before Trump had publicly recognized the outcome. Trump said at the time he was disappointed by the move after years of cooperation.
The closeness between Trump and Netanyahu has long been a source of criticism from opponents. Critics argue that Trump’s policies departed from longstanding U.S. approaches to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by overwhelmingly favoring Israel, while others contend that the personal rapport between the two leaders blurred the line between diplomatic strategy and political alliance. Supporters, meanwhile, have argued the relationship strengthened Israel’s security and advanced regional normalization efforts.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes, Anna Commander, Tony Phillips and Edward T. Cummins.
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