New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on the U.S. government to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video released on Tuesday 21 July, describing the Israeli leader as a "war criminal."
The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza war. Israel rejects the court's jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes.
Mamdani said his administration does not have the legal authority to enforce the warrant or arrest Netanyahu if he visits New York.
"The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant," he said.
The remarks came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said Netanyahu would not be arrested during any visit to the United States.
"Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. While he did not mention Mamdani by name, the comments followed the mayor's recent calls for action against the Israeli leader.
Netanyahu traditionally travels to New York each September to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
The Trump administration is currently locked in a dispute with the International Criminal Court (ICC). It has imposed sanctions on the court's judges and prosecutors, arguing the ICC lacks jurisdiction over the United States and Israel and objecting to its investigations into alleged war crimes involving U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and Israeli officials in connection with the war in Gaza. The administration says the court is improperly targeting U.S. and Israeli nationals and infringing on their sovereignty.
In an interview broadcast over the weekend, Mamdani said New York City's legal department had examined what authority the city might have regarding the ICC warrant, but concluded that it lacks the power to carry out such an arrest.
Responding to Mamdani's comments, Israel dismissed the ICC warrant as "bogus" and described the court as a "kangaroo court." In a post on X, Israeli officials accused the mayor of targeting "the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East."
Netanyahu has also dismissed the prospect of being arrested over the warrant, saying he is not concerned by Mamdani's remarks.
The ICC, established in 2002, has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Neither the United States nor Israel is a member of the court.
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