NYC Mayor Weighs Ordering Netanyahu Arrest at September UN Visit

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Saturday he is still exploring whether he can order the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when Netanyahu is expected to visit Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Mamdani, speaking on a New York Times podcast, said his office is in an "active conversation" with the city's Law Department over whether he holds the legal authority to direct the NYPD to detain a foreign head of state. He said he would act only within the law.

"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.

The mayor described Netanyahu as "a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court" and said he "belongs in the Hague." The ICC issued a warrant for Netanyahu's arrest in November 2024, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Gaza.

Netanyahu said he is not concerned by the threat. Appearing on the radio program "Sid & Friends in the Morning," the prime minister accused Mamdani of championing Hamas and said that "secretly, he hates America." It isn't clear at the time of this writing why the prime minister believes this to be a "secret".

Israel's Consul General in New York, Ofir Akunis, said Mamdani has "no authority" to order such an arrest and called on him to focus instead on governing the city.

Israel's United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon said Netanyahu's plans to address the General Assembly would proceed regardless. "It will not change a thing," Danon said. "Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride."

Mamdani made a similar pledge during his 2025 mayoral campaign. At that time, President Trump called the proposal "inappropriate" and said he would intervene if an arrest were attempted. Trump has not commented on Mamdani's latest remarks.