New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he is actively considering whether to attempt the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli leader visits the city for an upcoming United Nations summit, according to an interview published Saturday. The remarks drew an immediate and forceful response from Israeli officials.
Speaking to The New York Times, Mamdani said he believes Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague,” describing him as a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court. The mayor, a prominent figure on the political left who has previously described Israel as an “apartheid regime,” said that view was shared by many people because of Netanyahu’s conduct over recent years.
Mamdani acknowledged uncertainty about whether he holds the authority to direct the New York Police Department to detain a sitting foreign head of government. He said he was consulting the city’s legal team on the question and would act within whatever the law permitted him to do in New York City.
The UN General Assembly, one of the largest annual gatherings of world leaders, is scheduled to convene in September at UN headquarters in New York. Mamdani has said in the past that he would deploy the NYPD to carry out arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against wanted leaders, naming both Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In 2024, the ICC, based in The Hague, stated it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu bore responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, launched after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, was quick to condemn the mayor’s comments. Writing on X, Danon accused Mamdani of ignoring his duties as mayor and failing to address rising antisemitism in the city, choosing instead to stir hostility and chase headlines by targeting Israel. He insisted the remarks would change nothing, vowing that Netanyahu would travel to New York, address the General Assembly, and defend Israel’s right to protect its citizens. Danon added that if anyone deserved to be arrested, it was the mayor himself.
Netanyahu has separately accused Mamdani of backing Hamas, telling a New York radio program recently that he believed the mayor secretly harbored contempt for America.
