Mamdani Concedes He Cannot Enforce the ICC Warrant
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a video posted on social media Tuesday that his administration does not have the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he visit the city. Mamdani explained that his office had reviewed every legal avenue available to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court’s outstanding warrant against Netanyahu, concluding that the city lacks independent legal authority to enforce it. He called on the U.S. federal government, which he said does possess that authority, to join the ICC process and carry out the arrest instead. In the same clip, Mamdani described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and accused him of orchestrating a “genocide” against the Palestinian people, citing figures on amputees in Gaza and a UN report alleging Israeli soldiers deliberately targeted children.
Reversal From Earlier Campaign Pledge, Trump Rejects the Idea
The statement marks a shift from Mamdani’s earlier campaign-trail pledge to have Netanyahu arrested at the airport if he ever set foot in New York, a promise he had reaffirmed in a recent New York Times interview while discussing his legal team’s review of the city’s options. His update came just a day after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form” while in the United States, framing Netanyahu as an ally fighting against Iran. Legal experts, including CNN analyst Elie Honig, have separately dismissed the idea that a city mayor could hold such authority, noting the U.S. has never ratified the Rome Statute that obligates ICC member states to make such arrests.
