Zohran Mamdani says ‘Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal’ but admits he has no authority to arrest him if he comes to New York City

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani explicitly pledged during his 2025 campaign that he would direct the NYPD to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited his city.

To this end, CNN recently reported that the mayor’s office has been actively consulting with its legal department to determine the scope of his power in this matter and whether it’s possible to fulfil the ICC arrest warrant.

Now, in a video message that has so far received almost one million likes on X, Mamdani has given the world an update and didn’t mince his words:

“The architect of a horrific genocide”

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He is the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people. He is responsible for the killing of more than 73,000 people — many of them children — for the starvation of an entire population, for the bombing of hospitals, for the deliberate targeting of civilians, and for the denial of aid to those who survive, as those who survive undergo amputation without anesthesia. For the gunning down of hundreds of aid workers and journalists. The list goes on and on. These are crimes so grave they offend all of humanity.”

This is the strongest criticism any American politician has made to date of Netanyahu, and underlines precisely why Mamdani wants him in custody. However, he then confirms that it doesn’t seem that he has the authority to arrest him if he visits New York:

“My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here. It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.”

However, he’s not quite giving up. Mamdani says that while New York City doesn’t have the authority to arrest Netanyahu, the federal government does:

The federal government, however, does — and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant. Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large. While we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon — and we can examine every tool we have to defend the humanity and dignity of all people.”

The federal government arresting Netanyahu is unlikely, as Donald Trump has stated in response to Mamdani’s comments that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

It remains to be seen what will happen in September, when Netanyahu is expected to visit New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Mamdani has made it clear that he won’t be welcome in the city, but it seems like his hands are tied when it comes to doing something about it.