New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani pledged on the campaign trail to have the NYPD arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister visited. With Netanyahu days away from his UN General Assembly speech, Mamdani again called him a war criminal in an interview with CNN. It followed a friendly meeting with President Donald Trump at Gracie Mansion.
Mamdani said the International Criminal Court’s warrant should be honored, as nobody should be above its rulings. “When it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu, I have described him as I believe him to be, a war criminal and an architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people,” Zohran Mamdani said. However, he admitted the city cannot make the arrest itself.
Mamdani backed away from his campaign pledge in July, as a review of the city’s options concluded it lacked the legal authority to enforce the warrant. The ICC issued warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel denies the allegations.
Netanyahu says he’s going to tell the truth about Mamdani at the UN
Netanyahu hit back in a video posted to X, accusing Mamdani of supporting Hamas and inciting riots against Jewish New Yorkers. He said he would use his General Assembly address to respond. “I’m going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’m going to tell the truth about you,” Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Mamdani dismissed the video at a press conference, saying what Netanyahu claimed was not true. He pointed again to the ICC warrant and repeated his genocide accusation against the Israeli leader. Mamdani has previously called Hamas a terrorist organization and described the October 7 attack as a horrific war crime.
Israel rejects the court’s authority over its citizens, as it is not an ICC member, and the US has never joined the court either. In a July post aimed at Mamdani, Netanyahu’s office called the ICC a “kangaroo court” and its warrant bogus. Israel also denies that its conduct in Gaza amounts to genocide.
The NYPD expects protests near the UN on Manhattan’s East Side throughout the General Assembly. Mamdani has said he will not join demonstrations against Netanyahu, though he has defended the right to protest peacefully. Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon has accused Mamdani of sowing chaos ahead of the visit.
Several prominent New York Jewish figures have urged Mamdani to tone down his rhetoric on Israel, linking it to a rise in violent attacks on Jews. However, Mamdani has said he is mayor for all New Yorkers, including Jewish residents, and has repeatedly denounced antisemitism.
This is not the first time a New York mayor has clashed with a foreign leader in town for the General Assembly. In 1995, Mayor Rudy Giuliani had his chief of staff ask Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat to leave a Lincoln Center concert. The Clinton administration publicly criticized the move.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Thursday afternoon, and he is expected to return to Israel shortly afterward. His trip was originally planned to run several days and include a meeting with Trump.
Published: Sep 23, 2026 01:00 pm