New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said the city lacks the legal authority to enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while urging the US federal government to take action instead.
In a video shared on X late Tuesday, Mamdani described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and insisted that the Israeli leader is not welcome in New York City.
“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,” Mamdani said.
“The federal government however does and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant,” he added.
The mayor’s comments follow earlier remarks in which he disclosed that his administration had explored whether the city could arrest Netanyahu if he attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York this September.
However, after consulting with the city’s legal department, Mamdani said his administration concluded that municipal authorities do not have the power to carry out the ICC warrant.
“I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” he said.
His latest statement comes a day after US President Donald Trump declared that Netanyahu would not face arrest while visiting the United States.
In a social media post on Monday, Trump wrote that the Israeli prime minister “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.” Although Trump did not mention Mamdani by name, the statement followed growing debate over the mayor’s earlier comments.
During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani repeatedly pledged to direct the New York Police Department to arrest Netanyahu should the Israeli leader enter the city under the ICC warrant.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, criticised Mamdani’s position, accusing him of abandoning his responsibilities as mayor.
“You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas’ propaganda,” Danon said in a statement on social media.
“Do your job!”
The ICC issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of crimes against humanity linked to the war in Gaza.
The court alleged there were reasonable grounds to believe both men used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and deliberately targeting civilians during Israel’s military campaign against Hamas. Israeli authorities have rejected the allegations.
