New York Mayor Mamdani Explores Legal Options to Arrest Netanyahu During UN Visit
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has stated that he is exploring legal options to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The planned arrest is targeted to take place when the Israeli leader travels to New York City to attend the UN General Assembly scheduled for September.
Quoting a report by Russia Today on Sunday (19/07/2026), Mamdani revealed that he is engaged in intensive discussions with the city’s law department to examine the potential legality of such an arrest. This bold move comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Mamdani, who has consistently labelled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide, had already promised during last year’s mayoral campaign to arrest Netanyahu if the Prime Minister set foot in New York. When pressed again about delivering on that political promise during a podcast appearance over the weekend, the Mayor affirmed that his legal position had not changed.
“I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He is a war criminal who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court, and what you will find is that this view is held by many people, purely because of what his actions have produced over the past few years,” Mamdani said.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that is what we will do. However, we will not write our own laws for that purpose,” he added, regarding the limits of his authority.
The arrest plan immediately sparked a strong reaction and condemnation from Israeli diplomatic circles. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, accused Mamdani of failing to confront the wave of rising antisemitism in his city and choosing instead to incite hostility towards the Jewish state.
Israeli officials confirmed that Netanyahu still intends to deliver a speech during the annual High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly on 22–28 September, and the mayor’s threat would not change that decision.
For his part, Netanyahu said he was not worried at all about the arrest threat issued by New York’s top official. In a separate radio interview, the Israeli leader went on the offensive and levelled political accusations at the Mayor.
“And if there is anyone who should be arrested, it is the Mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani,” Danon stated in an official post on social media platform X.
Netanyahu accused the New York Mayor of being a defender of Hamas and of hating the United States. Meanwhile, from a federal legal standpoint, official representatives of UN member states generally receive full diplomatic immunity while making official state visits.
Moreover, neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the ICC, and US federal law strictly prohibits state or local authorities from cooperating with requests from the international court. New York Governor Kathy Hochul even asserted last year that the Mayor of New York has essentially no legal authority whatsoever to arrest Netanyahu.