President Donald Trump has made it clear that no American law enforcement will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the United States. The declaration came as NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed his legal team was actively reviewing options to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant.
Zohran Mamdani’s team is examining whether New York police could enforce warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu
Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.” The statement directly answered growing speculation over the Israeli leader’s planned trip to New York City in September for the UN General Assembly.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 over war crimes in Gaza. The charges include using starvation as a method of warfare and directing attacks against civilians. The United States does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction and is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established it.
Zohran Mamdani told the New York Times that his administration was in “an active conversation” with the city’s law department. The mayor wants to know whether he can direct the New York Police Department to take Netanyahu into custody. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court, and what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many.”
The NYC mayor, who campaigned on a promise to arrest Netanyahu, said his team would follow existing 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.” The exploratory move reportedly got condemnation from Republicans and some pro-Israel Democrats.
All in all, Donald Trump framed Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions as part of a broader regional conflict. “He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the president wrote, adding that those who should face arrest are “the people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction.”
